GEDmatch privacy

[Kit]

Earlier in the year there was an uproar as GEDmatch released DNA information about a person. This led GEDmatch to have an opt out policy so your DNA could not be used for crime enforcement.

However, law enforcement simply asked a judge for a warrant for ALL DNA on GEDmatch, which was granted, and GEDmatch handed it over within 24 hours without a fight.

The Detective involved in the case is hoping to find a way to access ancestry and 23andme too.

Interestingly the access did not solve the case but the detective is not looking to access other databases.

So DNA information is not as private as we would like to believe.

[Phoenix]

I have friends who would never provide a DNA sample. There is no guarantee that your data will be treated appropriately in the future. Terms and conditions may change, or a company be bought out by another with different ethics.

However, there was a news item today, suggesting all children be tested at birth, so that health problems can be identified early.

I imagine that in fifty years we will be unable to conceal our DNA. But it is certainly worth more to the testing companies than it is to us.

[Olde Crone]

This has been one of the main reasons I will not have my dna tested. Not because I have done anything wrong but because it is such a valuable thing that I do not trust any commercial company not to sell it on.

I have no concern that it is being used to solve serious crime, hip hip hooray in fact, but where do you stop using it for the greater good and who decides what the greater good is?

OC

[kiterunner]

It's not DNA being used to solve crime that bothers me about GEDMatch either, but the fact that anyone who knows the email address of a member, or their ID number or kit number, can access their DNA results, and it is easy to imagine bots being used to trawl the site gathering data by trying different kit numbers.

[Janet]

I agree, Kite, and I'm sure if that's the case they're already trying it out.

Today's NY Times has some more of the details.
Your DNA Profile is Private? A Florida Judge Just Said Otherwise (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/05/business/dna-database-search-warrant.html)

Interestingly the access did not solve the case but the detective is not looking to access other databases.

Thanks for posting, Toni. Did you mean the detective is now looking to access other databases?

[Kit]

It's not DNA being used to solve crime that bothers me about GEDMatch either, but the fact that anyone who knows the email address of a member, or their ID number or kit number, can access their DNA results, and it is easy to imagine bots being used to trawl the site gathering data by trying different kit numbers.

I've read something else recently where some researchers released a paper showing how easy it was to upload falsified DNA to a website to gain information ie they want to find out who has a certain gene mutation so they can modify and upload and then all matches they get have that mutation, or disease etc.

They only accessed publicly available DNA and I can't remember where that was but it would be easily for others to upload to GEDmatch or other sites to gain what they wanted to know.

I agree, Kite, and I'm sure if that's the case they're already trying it out.

Today's NY Times has some more of the details.
Your DNA Profile is Private? A Florida Judge Just Said Otherwise (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/05/business/dna-database-search-warrant.html)



Thanks for posting, Toni. Did you mean the detective is now looking to access other databases?

Sorry, typo. Yes the detective is now looking to access other databases.

Phoenix DNA testing from birth is terrifying from the insurance point of view. I can see them denying coverage for people because they have a particular gene.

I've had genetic testing for medical purposes years ago so my dna is out there somewhere. I don't even know what lab was used.

I guess my issue with crime enforcement taking DNA samples is that they are accessing things without the person's permission. It isn't like they could go and DNA test a million random people to catch a criminal so why should they be able to access the genealogical databases. I also think that if they do get access it should be limited to first, maybe second cousins, and closer.

[Olde Crone]

But you only need one dna hit with a name to be able to construct a tree in the old fashioned way. I see it as just another forensic tool. If you put any kind of information into the hands of a third party, you have lost control of what happens to it.

OC

[Phoenix]

Sib's child is my grandparents' only great grandchild, and shows no sign of wishing to procreate. My family is disappearing up its own backside, so I am not unduly concerned about handing over fossil DNA.

If I had children and grandchildren I would think very carefully about providing DNA. Once that genii is out of the bottle, you have no guarantee as to what happens to it.

[Kit]

I have no idea what country this article originated in but there are talks of DNA testing all new born children so their possible medical future can be assessed. If that happened there would be no privacy at all. I also can't get past the impact it would have on insurance, little children denied coverage as they carry a gene for some disease that may or may not actually occur.

[Phoenix]

In this country, you cannot get insurance with standard terms if you have a known condition. If the technology is available, the insurance company would demand you be tested before they would grant insurance.

I don't think we can backwards on this, but earlier testing may result in better therapies. That is the message being given, though I suspect there will be many unforeseen consequences.

[Olde Crone]

I have also read that if you have had any kind of dna test, not one for medical purposes, you must declare this to the insurance company, their argument being that information about your health is available even if you have not accessed or sought that information.

OC

[Kit]

That's interesting OC. I have had genetic testing for medical purposes but have never told an insurance company yet if I do a DNA test for a hobby I should tell them? My test came back negative for what was being tested but I have no idea if something else could have been found, if they ran the right tests at the time.