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I downloaded my 23andme file and uploaded my DNA to GEDmatch in the past. I wonder if I turned on “let law enforcement use it” and if I should turn it on now.

I downloaded my 23andme file and uploaded my DNA to GEDmatch in the past. I wonder if I turned on “let law enforcement use it” and if I should turn it on now. I need to think about it. I like catching bad guys as much as the next guy. It does make me uncomfortable that it could be used wrongly or even against me if I did nothing wrong. Maybe those are unreasonable fears, I don’t know.

Carrok 2y ago
Why on earth would you ever do that. And by "that" I mean every step. 1. Send your DNA to a for-profit company. 2. Upload the DNA results to yet another for-profit company. 3. Consider then giving law enforcement access to said DNA results. Each and every step you've outlined is utterly insane to me.
- cdshn 2y ago
  [flagged]
- mingus88 2y ago
  Say what you will, but these companies provide a service that many people are willing to pay for. And just like social media, it doesn’t matter if you refuse to play. All it takes is any of your friends to allow them to scrape their address book and bingo, you are now a part of the social graph, like it or not. Law enforcement doesn’t need your DNA. They just need the DNA of anyone related to you, which according to this article can include any one of thousands of people. Privacy is truly dead.
- ProllyInfamous 2y ago
  >Each and every step you've outlined is utterly insane to me. Absolutely agreed; however, all it takes it that one "doesn't care why should you?!" -brother / genetic relative... to get your partial genetic information into the hands of profiteering geneticists / admen. The fuck?! Why, dearest brother James..?
- snakeyjake 2y ago
  I uploaded my DNA results to GEDmatch and a couple other places for the explicit purpose of giving both researchers and law enforcement access to them. Of course, I live in the real world and not a delusional paranoiac realm of fearmongering so I realize that the tangible realizable benefits far outweigh any, even hypothetical, risks.
  - Carrok 2y ago
    Please elaborate on these tangible realizable benefits. I honestly can see none. As far as risks, literally being falsely imprisoned or executed is an actual, real world risk, that people have actually experienced. https://daily.jstor.org/forensic-dna-evidence-can-lead-wrongful-convictions/ https://daily.jstor.org/forensic-dna-evidence-can-lead-wrong...
    - snakeyjake 2y ago
      Researchers are today, right now, this very second downloading genetic information from those databases and using it to understand and develop cures for diseases. The vast libraries of information, coupled with health and demographic data, are changing the way science is done. There is also a chance, however small, that a genealogical genetic match to me will lead to one of my trashy drug-addicted relatives going to jail for rape. >literally being falsely imprisoned or executed is an actual, real world risk, that people have actually experienced The article you yourself linked to, which I read every word of, contains no examples of people "literally being falsely imprisoned or executed". Eyewitness testimony can lead to false imprisonment-- is the solution to ban eyewitness testimony? Finding a suspect's fingerprint at a scene can lead to false imprisonment-- is the solution to ban fingerprints? DNA evidence is only a single link in a long chain and has all of the benefits and drawbacks of fingerprints, eyewitness testimony, and all other forms of evidence. It is no different, despite what crime shows might have you think. Every time you're feeling stressed out about the jackbooted gubmint thugz locking you up if they find your DNA somewhere just repeat to yourself "it's the exact same thing as them finding a fingerprint or CCTV still, just newer". "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury we found the suspect's fingerprints and DNA at the scene, have a CCTV image of him buying the hammer that has his fingerprints and DNA on it, and have three eyewitnesses who saw him enter the scene of the crime right before the murder" "Throw it all out, it's a conspiracy, a violation of the defendant's rights. That's all faulty evidence fraught with peril and allowing it will destroy democracy and freedom as we know it."
dyauspitr 2y ago
You would have to be an absolute moron to willingly submit your DNA to law enforcement. How does this possibly help anyone? Like if someone you were genetically related to committed a crime? All I can see is severe potential negatives for you and no positives.
- withinboredom 2y ago
  This also helps identify people who slip and fall while cliff diving (usually not carrying ID) or get hit in a hit-and-run while walking their dog, or burn up in a friend’s house fire. I have a friend who volunteers to go through dental records for kidnapped children, trying to locate the records for the body of the found child. These are the types of things people don’t usually think about. And if you’re curious, yes, sometimes kidnappers even destroy the teeth to try and prevent the identification of the children. These aren’t just to solve crimes, but locate family members of the deceased John/Jane Does.
  - dyauspitr 2y ago
    If someone is missing a family member it’s much more prudent to do a specific DNA test then, not advocate for carte Blanche providing your genetic data to the government.
    - withinboredom 2y ago
      In the case of missing adults, people who care may not even know they are missing for quite some time.
      - dyauspitr 2y ago
        Seems like a ridiculously sliver usecase to advocate for giving away your genetic data to the government.
        withinboredom 2y ago
        Person said they can’t see any upside to sharing, just giving an upside. It’s not the greatest reason, but it is a reason.

Carrok 2y ago

Why on earth would you ever do that. And by "that" I mean every step. 1. Send your DNA to a for-profit company. 2. Upload the DNA results to yet another for-profit company. 3. Consider then giving law enforcement access to said DNA results. Each and every step you've outlined is utterly insane to me.

cdshn 2y ago
[flagged]
mingus88 2y ago
Say what you will, but these companies provide a service that many people are willing to pay for. And just like social media, it doesn’t matter if you refuse to play. All it takes is any of your friends to allow them to scrape their address book and bingo, you are now a part of the social graph, like it or not. Law enforcement doesn’t need your DNA. They just need the DNA of anyone related to you, which according to this article can include any one of thousands of people. Privacy is truly dead.
ProllyInfamous 2y ago
>Each and every step you've outlined is utterly insane to me. Absolutely agreed; however, all it takes it that one "doesn't care why should you?!" -brother / genetic relative... to get your partial genetic information into the hands of profiteering geneticists / admen. The fuck?! Why, dearest brother James..?
snakeyjake 2y ago
I uploaded my DNA results to GEDmatch and a couple other places for the explicit purpose of giving both researchers and law enforcement access to them. Of course, I live in the real world and not a delusional paranoiac realm of fearmongering so I realize that the tangible realizable benefits far outweigh any, even hypothetical, risks.
- Carrok 2y ago
  Please elaborate on these tangible realizable benefits. I honestly can see none. As far as risks, literally being falsely imprisoned or executed is an actual, real world risk, that people have actually experienced. https://daily.jstor.org/forensic-dna-evidence-can-lead-wrongful-convictions/ https://daily.jstor.org/forensic-dna-evidence-can-lead-wrong...
  - snakeyjake 2y ago
    Researchers are today, right now, this very second downloading genetic information from those databases and using it to understand and develop cures for diseases. The vast libraries of information, coupled with health and demographic data, are changing the way science is done. There is also a chance, however small, that a genealogical genetic match to me will lead to one of my trashy drug-addicted relatives going to jail for rape. >literally being falsely imprisoned or executed is an actual, real world risk, that people have actually experienced The article you yourself linked to, which I read every word of, contains no examples of people "literally being falsely imprisoned or executed". Eyewitness testimony can lead to false imprisonment-- is the solution to ban eyewitness testimony? Finding a suspect's fingerprint at a scene can lead to false imprisonment-- is the solution to ban fingerprints? DNA evidence is only a single link in a long chain and has all of the benefits and drawbacks of fingerprints, eyewitness testimony, and all other forms of evidence. It is no different, despite what crime shows might have you think. Every time you're feeling stressed out about the jackbooted gubmint thugz locking you up if they find your DNA somewhere just repeat to yourself "it's the exact same thing as them finding a fingerprint or CCTV still, just newer". "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury we found the suspect's fingerprints and DNA at the scene, have a CCTV image of him buying the hammer that has his fingerprints and DNA on it, and have three eyewitnesses who saw him enter the scene of the crime right before the murder" "Throw it all out, it's a conspiracy, a violation of the defendant's rights. That's all faulty evidence fraught with peril and allowing it will destroy democracy and freedom as we know it."

dyauspitr 2y ago

You would have to be an absolute moron to willingly submit your DNA to law enforcement. How does this possibly help anyone? Like if someone you were genetically related to committed a crime? All I can see is severe potential negatives for you and no positives.

withinboredom 2y ago
This also helps identify people who slip and fall while cliff diving (usually not carrying ID) or get hit in a hit-and-run while walking their dog, or burn up in a friend’s house fire. I have a friend who volunteers to go through dental records for kidnapped children, trying to locate the records for the body of the found child. These are the types of things people don’t usually think about. And if you’re curious, yes, sometimes kidnappers even destroy the teeth to try and prevent the identification of the children. These aren’t just to solve crimes, but locate family members of the deceased John/Jane Does.
- dyauspitr 2y ago
  If someone is missing a family member it’s much more prudent to do a specific DNA test then, not advocate for carte Blanche providing your genetic data to the government.
  - withinboredom 2y ago
    In the case of missing adults, people who care may not even know they are missing for quite some time.
    - dyauspitr 2y ago
      Seems like a ridiculously sliver usecase to advocate for giving away your genetic data to the government.
      - withinboredom 2y ago
        Person said they can’t see any upside to sharing, just giving an upside. It’s not the greatest reason, but it is a reason.