From Dick Eastman’s blog March 2020:
DNA Testing Kits: What Are the Privacy Risks?
Call me paranoid but I do believe that some people who have their DNA tested are not aware of all the privacy issues. Quoting from an article by Victoria Mcintosh, a Certified Information Privacy Technologist, as published in the CompariTech web site at http://bit.ly/3csasuC:
Warrant Issued Permitting Police Full Access to GEDmatch Database
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/05/business/dna-database-search-warrant.html
Schumer Wants DNA Test Companies Investigated
Nov. 26, 2017 (UPI) — Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called on the Federal Trade Commission Sunday to investigate companies that provide ancestry DNA results due to potential privacy concerns. “What many consumers don’t realize is that their sensitive information can end up in the hands of unknown third-party companies,” Schumer said,
A recent Gizmodo report analyzed the terms and conditions of several DNA test companies and found that these companies can claim ownership of one’s DNA, that it is unclear who has access to your DNA and that information can get leaked.
An article by | Dec 11, 2016 “Read the Fine Print” http://www.legalgenealogist.com provides another perspective.
New Developments: Golden State Killer identified through genealogy sites:
Dick Eastman https://blog.eogn.com/2018/04/26/dna-that-cracked-the-golden-state-killer-case-came-from-genealogy-websites/
Fox News http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/04/26/golden-state-killer-caught-using-relatives-dna-from-genealogy-websites-prosecutors-say.html
NBC News Golden State Killer suspect’s capture sparks DNA site privacy fears
Someone Else’s DNA Can be Used to Identify You
More than 60 percent of Americans who have some European ancestry can be identified using DNA databases — even if they have not submitted their own DNA, researchers reported Thursday.
Enough people have done some kind of DNA test to make it possible to match much of the population, the researchers said. So even if you don’t submit your own DNA, if a cousin does, it could lead people to you.
Details may be found in an article by Maggie Fox in the NBC News web site at: https://nbcnews.to/2CckjVT.
