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Her sister was murdered in 1980. New DNA methods could crack the case, but NY won't allow it.

Manc Skipper said:
I seem to recall a British murderer being found years later via a familial match of his son's DNA on a criminal database. The murderer had died in the meantime, but they exhumed his body to be sure.
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Very cool. If only this technology was available earlier. We'd have a lot less cold cases.
 
Josie said:
I assume the fine print says that their information might be shared with sites like GEDmatch. Social media also wasn’t created for investigative purposes but it’s one of the first places they should look nowadays.
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If it gets accepted there will probably be a lot less of it.

Is there a difference between this and letting the government scan and review all of our emails, all of our voicemails, all of our cellphone calls, all of our telephone calls, and then act on anything they find that is deemed criminal?
 
VanceMack said:
If it gets accepted there will probably be a lot less of it.

Is there a difference between this and letting the government scan and review all of our emails, all of our voicemails, all of our cellphone calls, all of our telephone calls, and then act on anything they find that is deemed criminal?
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Yes, there is. When you submit your DNA to the genealogy sites you're choosing to, essentially, give your genetic information away to a public database. The police are using the DNA obtained from crime scenes in these genealogy sites to see who is related to the suspect. When your name pops up as being a family member, they can then investigate your family to see who would fit the bill for the crime -- all because of public information you chose to provide.

Emails, voicemails, cell phone calls aren't public information unless you choose to make them public. Therefore, the police need a warrant to search those things.
 
Rogue Valley said:
Her sister was murdered in 1980. New DNA methods could crack the case, but NY won't allow it.

"It’s not going to bring her back,” Irene Wilkowitz said of using genetic genealogy to search for her sister's killer. “But it will help other people."

191108-wilkowitz-cold-case-mn-1022_3b96d4eeb8505fe023bfec178ec40706.fit-560w.jpg

Eve Wilkowitz was 20 when she was murdered in 1980.



Perhaps the last hope of justice for Eve Wilkowitz lies with a DNA technique called "investigative genetic genealogy". Unfortunately, New York is lagging behind in codifying and legalizing this new investigative tool.

But it is controversial in some respects. The entire article above is interesting and informative with a sprinkling of the melancholy.
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Im not to keen on using these databases for criminal investigations

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Irredentist said:
And innocent people have been freed due to it. I know how useful genetic information can be. But I also think there are legitimate privacy concerns.
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As with most matters concerning giving more tools to law enforcement for investigating and "protecting" citizens it is often a double edged sword. What is often sold to us as a means to keep us all safe often becomes another means to strip away our rights. Really no easy answer in my opinion other than we MUST resist the idea that the government is always there to "help".

On a personal note I would NEVER volunteer my DNA to any organization public or private.
 
This will put the end to sites like 23 and Me in due course.
 
Rogue Valley said:
Her sister was murdered in 1980. New DNA methods could crack the case, but NY won't allow it.

"It’s not going to bring her back,” Irene Wilkowitz said of using genetic genealogy to search for her sister's killer. “But it will help other people."

191108-wilkowitz-cold-case-mn-1022_3b96d4eeb8505fe023bfec178ec40706.fit-560w.jpg

Eve Wilkowitz was 20 when she was murdered in 1980.



Perhaps the last hope of justice for Eve Wilkowitz lies with a DNA technique called "investigative genetic genealogy". Unfortunately, New York is lagging behind in codifying and legalizing this new investigative tool.

But it is controversial in some respects. The entire article above is interesting and informative with a sprinkling of the melancholy.
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I didn't know much about consumer DNA databases

Consumer genetic testing is creating a de facto national DNA database.

Interesting and Law Enforcement should NOT be allowed to access these databases used by innocent non-criminals.

It is an invasion of privacy...
 
Bodhisattva said:
I didn't know much about consumer DNA databases

Consumer genetic testing is creating a de facto national DNA database.

Interesting and Law Enforcement should NOT be allowed to access these databases used by innocent non-criminals.

It is an invasion of privacy...
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Except it’s a public database that users have chosen to give their information to. Just like people choosing to post information about themselves on a public social media account. There’s no invasion of privacy when you choose to make things public.
 
Josie said:
Except it’s a public database that users have chosen to give their information to. Just like people choosing to post information about themselves on a public social media account. There’s no invasion of privacy when you choose to make things public.
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Only if the database says that third party entities are allowed to access and take your DNA.
 
Bodhisattva said:
Only if the database says that third party entities are allowed to access and take your DNA.
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Let's be clear about what the police are doing here. They aren't getting anyone's DNA from these genealogy sites. They are uploading their suspect's DNA profile to find family members. Then they can investigate that family and determine which family member fits the age, location, etc. of their suspect. Then they get that person's DNA and make the match.

In terms of sharing with third parties, I believe every single genealogy site does this. It's up to the user to read the TOS to decide if they still want to provide their DNA.

Read the fine print | The Legal Genealogist
 
Josie said:
Let's be clear about what the police are doing here. They aren't getting anyone's DNA from these genealogy sites. They are uploading their suspect's DNA profile to find family members. Then they can investigate that family and determine which family member fits the age, location, etc. of their suspect. Then they get that person's DNA and make the match.

In terms of sharing with third parties, I believe every single genealogy site does this. It's up to the user to read the TOS to decide if they still want to provide their DNA.

Read the fine print | The Legal Genealogist
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That sounds even worse... so cops are uploading a murderers DNA into a database to find families and then start investigating that family?
 
Bodhisattva said:
That sounds even worse... so cops are uploading a murderers DNA into a database to find families and then start investigating that family?
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Why is that worse? They're catching a killer -- sometimes a serial killer. They investigate people (yes, families) in every murder.
 
Let's be frank, civil, and brief.

New York WOULD allow DNA testing if the victim had had a different "background."
 
Bodhisattva said:
That sounds even worse... so cops are uploading a murderers DNA into a database to find families and then start investigating that family?
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Genealogical DNA match means that someone in that gene pool is the killer. Why is investigating them "worse"?
 
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