I’m concerned about the privacy implications of DNA testing services like 23andMe or AncestryDNA. What are the potential risks of sharing our genetic data with those companies, and are there any privacy-focused alternatives available?

  • Euphorazine@lemmy.world
    14·
    6 months ago

    Well prosecutors and cops are incentivized to get arrests. Whether to pump numbers up for promotions or to use in campaigning. So it wouldn’t surprise me if cops turn a cold case into a witch hunt because some partial DNA match in a “private” database gave them a few suspects and then they start to build some case to fit the suspects.

      • Euphorazine@lemmy.world
        3·
        6 months ago

        Well overall, using these techniques has probably resolved a ton of investigations where the leads ran out and it being an overall positive. I think it would still be better that DNA from these sources cannot be used in trial. So a DNA match can give you a new angle to find other elements, but the fact DNA was used to find a trail shouldn’t be admissable.

        I guess the saying “better 100 guilty people go free rather than an innocent man should suffer” applies though.

        My bias though is probably skewed through the media I consume. I do watch a lot of channels like Lackluster YouTube videos (shows corruption and double standards in policing). I do try to balance it out with channels like Code Blue Cam which does highlight good policing too, but I would say I have an inherent distrust with policing nowadays.

          • BearOfaTime@lemm.ee
            3·
            6 months ago

            You should go sit in on court cases before making such claims.

            The “experts” often used in court cases are frequently not so expert as the seem. It’s staggering some of the stuff that gets passed off as “evidence”. Like “gun fingerprinting” - “experts”, in court, will claim they can positively connect a case to a gun with extremely high accuracy - if you look into the research, it’s practically useless.