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I'm surprised they are being so public about this (they could have downplayed it, even if they didn't go full parallel construction.) This will potentially cau

by rdl 9y ago

I'm surprised they are being so public about this (they could have downplayed it, even if they didn't go full parallel construction.) This will potentially cause people to be less willing to use sites like this, and this could have long-term negative public health impact. Plus, it hurts the commercial businesses. (My DNA is on record with DOD for personnel recovery purposes, as are most military/contractor personnel of the past 15 years or so, but I'm not sure how the actual database works. I suspect in reality it means China, Russia, Israel, and any other competent infosec adversary also has a full copy of this database.)

caf 9y ago
Will it, though? I would bet most people wouldn't consider "maybe this will expose a murderer in my family" as a realistic possibility, and even among those who would, most probably would be OK with that.
- rdl 9y ago
  Murderer in my family, probably not, but what if it is "drug crime in my own family" or the more likely "expensive medical disorder which will preclude insurance, employment, dating, etc.". It's still data being used "against" the user or his relatives. This long article that someone on Twitter sent me is interesting: https://medium.com/matter/23-and-you-66e87553d22c https://medium.com/matter/23-and-you-66e87553d22c
  - fixermark 9y ago
    Those are reasonable extrapolations but are outside the purview of the police's concern. I don't expect they would stop a police chief (let alone a beat-cop) from bragging about a cool new method for narrowing a suspect list, because the benefit to other cops knowing about it outweighs the harm to the companies' bottom lines.
fixermark 9y ago
I don't think either of those concerns are really the police's concern. If the public reacts to this news by mistrusting those sites, so be it. (One could, I suppose, make an argument that the police, for purely selfish reasons, would want as many people as possible to use these sites so would keep mum on this methodology, but that's assuming police act as a coherent unit or organization and are not themselves individuals and citizens with their own red-lines for creepiness).

by rdl 9y ago

caf 9y ago

Will it, though? I would bet most people wouldn't consider "maybe this will expose a murderer in my family" as a realistic possibility, and even among those who would, most probably would be OK with that.

rdl 9y ago
Murderer in my family, probably not, but what if it is "drug crime in my own family" or the more likely "expensive medical disorder which will preclude insurance, employment, dating, etc.". It's still data being used "against" the user or his relatives. This long article that someone on Twitter sent me is interesting: https://medium.com/matter/23-and-you-66e87553d22c https://medium.com/matter/23-and-you-66e87553d22c
- fixermark 9y ago
  Those are reasonable extrapolations but are outside the purview of the police's concern. I don't expect they would stop a police chief (let alone a beat-cop) from bragging about a cool new method for narrowing a suspect list, because the benefit to other cops knowing about it outweighs the harm to the companies' bottom lines.

fixermark 9y ago

I don't think either of those concerns are really the police's concern. If the public reacts to this news by mistrusting those sites, so be it. (One could, I suppose, make an argument that the police, for purely selfish reasons, would want as many people as possible to use these sites so would keep mum on this methodology, but that's assuming police act as a coherent unit or organization and are not themselves individuals and citizens with their own red-lines for creepiness).