At-home DNA testing kits, which help people find out more about their ancestry, have become all the rage recently. In fact, DNA testing kits became one of 2018's most popular Christmas gifts. A new story fromBuzzFeed News is all the more disturbing in light of this, as they've reported that Family Tree DNA, one of the biggest providers of at-home DNA testing kits, is working with the FBI.
The news will likely raise privacy concerns for individuals purchasing such kits, however, as BuzzFeed notes, the FBI have used public genealogy databases in the past to solve cold cases. Among those solved was the capture of the suspected Golden State Killer, who's case remained unsolved since the '80s. This is the first time a private firm has agreed to let the FBI access its own database, even though their database is free to access.
The move will reportedly allow law enforcement officials to solve cases that have been cold for quite some time. Family Tree DNA confirmed the move to BuzzFeed News, stating that allowing the FBI to have access to their database "would help law enforcement agencies solve crimes faster than ever." They don't currently have a contract with the FBI officially, but they've been granting access to DNA samples on a case-by-case basis since latter 2018.
They added that their work with the FBI is "a very new development, which started with one case last year and morphed." They've supplied DNA information to the FBI on less than ten cases thus far.
"Without realizing it [Family Tree DNA founder and CEO Bennett Greenspan] had inadvertently created a platform that, nearly two decades later, would help law enforcement agencies solve violent crimes faster than ever," the company explained in a statement.
