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Two New Laws Restrict Police Use of DNA Search Method
The New York Times ^ | 31 May 2021 | Virginia Hughes

Posted on 05/31/2021 6:06:56 PM PDT by Theoria

New laws in Maryland and Montana are the first in the nation to restrict law enforcement’s use of genetic genealogy, the DNA matching technique that in 2018 identified the Golden State Killer, in an effort to ensure the genetic privacy of the accused and their relatives.

Beginning on Oct. 1, investigators working on Maryland cases will need a judge’s signoff before using the method, in which a “profile” of thousands of DNA markers from a crime scene is uploaded to genealogy websites to find relatives of the culprit. The new law, sponsored by Democratic lawmakers, also dictates that the technique be used only for serious crimes, such as murder and sexual assault. And it states that investigators may only use websites with strict policies around user consent.

Montana’s new law, sponsored by a Republican, is narrower, requiring that government investigators obtain a search warrant before using a consumer DNA database, unless the consumer has waived the right to privacy.

The laws “demonstrate that people across the political spectrum find law enforcement use of consumer genetic data chilling, concerning and privacy-invasive,” said Natalie Ram, a law professor at the University of Maryland who championed the Maryland law. “I hope to see more states embrace robust regulation of this law enforcement technique in the future.”

Privacy advocates like Ms. Ram have been worried about genetic genealogy since 2018, when it was used to great fanfare to reveal the identity of the Golden State Killer, who murdered 13 people and raped dozens of women in the 1970s and ’80s.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government; US: Maryland; US: Montana
KEYWORDS: database; defundthepolice; dna; gene; genealogy; geneticgenealogy; goldenstatekiller; helixmakemineadouble; maryland; montana; natalieram; newyorkslimes; newyorktimes; police; privacy; uofmaryland; virginiahughes; warrant
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1 posted on 05/31/2021 6:06:56 PM PDT by Theoria
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To: Theoria

So criminals get privacy rights regarding their relatives’ DNA?


2 posted on 05/31/2021 6:10:23 PM PDT by a fool in paradise (Lean on Joe Biden to follow Donald Trump's example and donate his annual salary to charity.)
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To: Theoria

Democrats are doing everything they can to destroy this country.


3 posted on 05/31/2021 6:10:46 PM PDT by beethovenfan (Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin)
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To: Theoria

Don't keep the citizenry from finding out the truth!
4 posted on 05/31/2021 6:12:00 PM PDT by rx (Truth will out!)
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To: Theoria

the same people who think 23 and me is super wonderful probably also have connected spy devices in their houses.

(that includes your phone with a few exceptions)

https://www.amazon.com/Punkt-MP02-Factory-Unlocked-Smartphone/dp/B07ML3ZHT4


5 posted on 05/31/2021 6:12:09 PM PDT by algore
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To: Theoria

cops will still do this

perhaps these laws will have an effect
on evidence rules


6 posted on 05/31/2021 6:24:01 PM PDT by RockyTx
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To: Theoria

“...sponsored by Democratic lawmakers...”

Figures.


7 posted on 05/31/2021 6:24:04 PM PDT by Carriage Hill (A society grows great when old men plant trees, in whose shade they know they will never sit..)
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To: Theoria

How can they contact thousands of us to do DNA police work.

I belong to ancestry.com. I have about 30K relatives, and many were identified by DNA tests.

Each week from 8-12 new DNA relatives to me are listed each day.

Many if not most are 6-8th cousins via my DNA.

I probably have several thousand closer DNA relatives.

So if a distant or not so distant relative is suspected of murder, showing/saying that Xiden is a Rectum or jay walking?

How are they going to get permission from thousands of us to use our DNA to ferret out the above serious criminals?


8 posted on 05/31/2021 6:46:13 PM PDT by Grampa Dave (“Respond only to polite and intelligent posters, who don’t insult you or us! Forget the others!”)
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To: Theoria

Dear Police Department:

My client had the great misfortune to have been raped.

Can I have a sample of the semen collected so I can track down the bastard so I can file suit against him?

Bill Bloodhound, Attorney-at-Law


9 posted on 05/31/2021 7:17:00 PM PDT by Brian Griffin
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To: Theoria

I don’t care to know if there are unknown relatives out there.

BTW, neither of my parents had siblings; at least none they told me about.


10 posted on 05/31/2021 7:34:44 PM PDT by WASCWatch ( WASC)
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To: Grampa Dave
They don't get permission. Judge rules the safety of public trumps privacy. It's how they caught Golden State Killer or BTK.
11 posted on 05/31/2021 7:57:36 PM PDT by TornadoAlley3 ( I'm Proud To Be An Okie From Muskogee)
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To: Grampa Dave

https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/2018/4/27/17290288/golden-state-killer-joseph-james-deangelo-dna-profile-match


12 posted on 05/31/2021 7:59:54 PM PDT by TornadoAlley3 ( I'm Proud To Be An Okie From Muskogee)
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To: Grampa Dave

The Montana one doesn’t mean that they have to get individual consumers’ permission, but that if the consumers have not waived their right to privacy as part of subscribing to a genealogy database service (and most of these services *do* require that as part of the terms of service) they have to go get a warrant to search the database as a whole. Which is as it should be; police should have to get search warrants to check any private medical or genealogical database instead of just trolling it at any time because they feel like it.


13 posted on 05/31/2021 8:15:45 PM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: TornadoAlley3

In that case, they didn’t need a warrant. They used an open database created with voluntarily submitted samples and privacy waivers.


14 posted on 05/31/2021 8:17:57 PM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: a fool in paradise

“So criminals get privacy rights regarding their relatives’ DNA?”

You think the government having the ability to tell who was where at any place and time is a good idea? This law is protecting MY privacy rights.

The same people who lied to get warrants against the President are the ones who can put your dna anywhere and then look it up on gedmatch.


15 posted on 05/31/2021 8:21:51 PM PDT by ModelBreaker
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To: Spktyr
Correct. They had crime scene DNA. They sent the unknown suspect's DNA to the genealogy company. They got back matching relatives data. They created a family tree and narrowed the list by male and age.

In BTK they had crime scene DNA and Dennis Rader name but not his DNA. They learned his daughter was a student at Kansas State. They checked with the on campus clinic and discovered she had a Pap smear on file there. Search warrant was granted for DNA testing of the Pap smear.

16 posted on 05/31/2021 8:32:08 PM PDT by TornadoAlley3 ( I'm Proud To Be An Okie From Muskogee)
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To: ModelBreaker
"You think the government having the ability to tell who was where at any place and time is a good idea? This law is protecting MY privacy rights."


17 posted on 05/31/2021 11:01:04 PM PDT by USFRIENDINVICTORIA
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To: TornadoAlley3

And that’s how it should be. If you volunteer to have your DNA on a public database for all to see, no warrant should be needed because you gave permission. If you put it on a private database - search warrant. If you have a sample on file somewhere and they want to look at it - search warrant. Search warrants take less than ten minutes to get by phone in most localities, so there’s no reason for them not to get one.


18 posted on 06/01/2021 12:52:39 AM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: Theoria

This was the intended use from the beginning. Everyone know dna from both parents is used . This means the signal decreases by half each generation. Anything under 7 percent is unreliable. Basically, you get as much information as talking To your relatives and doing some basic genealogy.


19 posted on 06/01/2021 3:06:14 AM PDT by momincombatboots (Ephesians 6... who you are really at war with)
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To: ModelBreaker
You think the government having the ability to tell who was where at any place and time is a good idea? This law is protecting MY privacy rights.

The same people who lied to get warrants against the President are the ones who can put your dna anywhere and then look it up on gedmatch.

Indeed. That is a serious concern. Another is that they've managed to bamboozle people into thinking that they can accurately identify people with just a few 'markers'. They throw around numbers in front of juries like '1 in 200 million' or similar things that have no actual connection to reality. People's faith in this tech is much greater than it should be, primarily because of the lies told in the entertainment media.

20 posted on 06/01/2021 6:24:22 AM PDT by zeugma (Stop deluding yourself that America is still a free country.)
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