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One of the Biggest At-Home DNA Testing Companies Is Working with the FBI

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Re: One of the Biggest At-Home DNA Testing Companies Is Working with the FBI

#231

Post by decebalus1 »

superfamicom wrote: post #187

I would gladly donate my DNA to be tested to find criminals. I signed up to 23andMe years ago just for fun, but if that data can be used to help someone who was hurt by someone genetically related to me, I am all for it. Reading the reactions here makes me feel crazy, as if their intention is to make me feel manipulated or otherwise bad. It is really interesting to me how many people are fearful of dystopian futures…

> I would gladly donate my DNA to be tested to find criminals.

The definition of criminal can change overnight. This may not be used only to catch serial killers. Nobody is stopping the feds to use this to target political dissidents. I don't get why anyone who knows about COINTELPRO can side with the feds on issues like this. It's not like they've stopped, actually. Check out what the feds investigated about the neo-Nazi rally in Sacramento. Still want them to handle your DNA?

Re: One of the Biggest At-Home DNA Testing Companies Is Working with the FBI

#232

Post by clouddrover »

JoeSmithson wrote: post #140
ptero wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Total surveillance or global DNA law enforcement database would solve many murders and prevent wrongful convictions. However, it would also give many opportunities for framing convenient suspects and "encouraging" confessions. I am sure your case was above board but, being born in a totalitarian state, I do not trust law enforcement too much and prefer to err on the side of not solving some crimes. My 2c.

How would it let you frame convenient suspects? Surely you would need to place that suspects DNA at the scene, in which case you already have it...? Where does the database come into this?

> Surely you would need to place that suspects DNA at the scene

Don't underestimate DNA transfer. Your DNA can end up in locations you have never been:

https://www.wired.com/story/dna-transfer-framed-murder/

Re: One of the Biggest At-Home DNA Testing Companies Is Working with the FBI

#233

Post by hnuser123456 »

incompatible wrote: post #221
jyrkesh wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does anyone else feel like there's a growing assumption of benevolent governments and states? It might just be my own anecdotal experience, but I'm constantly surprised at how often people overlook the entire point of the 4th and 5th Amendment because Western states have been "mostly better" (these are both relative qualifiers, I am NOT saying they're perfect) in the last 10-30 years. This entire post read as if ther…

Reading the comments on this thread, I was getting exactly the opposite impression. So many people don't trust the government at all, and don't want them to be able to enforce laws. I suppose they'd prefer that the police force and justice system be disbanded.

"So many people" likely trust business even less than the government, and this is about handing your DNA over to businesses and government at the same time, for funsies. And that last part is quite an assumption.

Re: One of the Biggest At-Home DNA Testing Companies Is Working with the FBI

#234

Post by CamperBob2 »

kaybe wrote: post #162
kilo_bravo_3 wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>what they're doing to themselves and their families. This only encourages me. My DNA is on record in various places, and if any relative of mine commits a crime I want the honor of being the person who fucked them and sent them to prison. I would tout the event as an esteemed accomplishment. Everyone seems to be worried about a sci-fi movie where clones are made from cheek swabs or corporations use DNA to deny certa…

As a German, I see many problems with this point of view. What is a crime can change fast, and it can also mean just being of the wrong group. Don't think it can't and won't happen again.

Exactly. People who proudly tell you that they have nothing to hide never seem to understand that they aren't the ones who decide whether or not they have something to hide.

Re: One of the Biggest At-Home DNA Testing Companies Is Working with the FBI

#235

Post by cellularmitosis »

icelancer wrote: post #135
cellularmitosis wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speaking of "throw that test tube in the trash", I'll share my anecdote: One of the DNA testing companies was offering a free test for folks who suffer from things like autoimmune disorders (which I do). I signed up, got the kit, filled out the survey which asks a bunch of specific questions about which particular medical condition you have, etc. I set the box aside, planning to take it to work and drop it off in out…

This is the kind of thing that makes people not believe in the OP's story, because this is absolutely ridiculous. It's called cookie and fragment tracking across the Internet. That's what happened to you. You sold yourself out by browsing the web without sufficient content blockers.

And all of that cookie tracking just so happened to catch up with me the day after submitting the survey? I had been performing related searches for months...

Re: One of the Biggest At-Home DNA Testing Companies Is Working with the FBI

#236

Post by downrightmike »

wonderwonder wrote: post #4

I am torn on this, as on the one hand it does violate privacy to a very large degree and provide massive power to the government. Things I am very much against. On the other hand, essentially all this does is provide law enforcement a means to potentially quickly identify violent criminals via physical traits as opposed to the contents of their mind such as forcing someone to unlock a phone which I am very against. A…

"can screen people for genetics flaws and make hiring decisions etc. based on them" Don't worry, by time we can accurately do this screening, the large push to automation will have already rendered most people unemployable.

Re: One of the Biggest At-Home DNA Testing Companies Is Working with the FBI

#237

Post by frutiger »

hinkley wrote: post #185
dangrossman wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and their families That's how a local cold murder case was solved last year. DNA from a 25-year-old crime scene was run against the samples in one of these genealogy databases, and they found a familial match. Police set up a sting to covertly collect DNA from that person's immediate family. They got their DNA match with a brother's water bottle police took from a trash can after he worked a DJ gig at a school. htt…

That's wonderful if the crime is something clear-cut like murder. We can generally all agree that it is unethical and worthy of punishment. What if it's something we can't quite agree on, or tyranny of the majority? Joe McCarthy happened once, and he didn't give a shit about ex post facto. Presuming someone like him will never come along again is a road to pain and suffering. Spend ten minutes reading about what Cryp…

> I've known 2 people who have had LEOs as stalkers

What's an LEO? My first thought is Low Earth Orbit, but obviously that's not right. Googling "leo" and "leo stalker" doesn't bring up much apart from horoscopes.

Re: One of the Biggest At-Home DNA Testing Companies Is Working with the FBI

#238

Post by rb808 »

I think that government agencies should have everyones DNA.

Esp rape I'm really surprised police can't just look at the semen and look up who it belonged to. The government already knows everyone's photos and basic biometrics from drivers licenses and passports, surely this is just one more field in the database.

Re: One of the Biggest At-Home DNA Testing Companies Is Working with the FBI

#240

Post by lipman »

colordrops wrote: post #92
LinuxBender wrote: post #13

The term "At Home" is very disingenuous. Spitting in a tube at home and then mailing your DNA to a lab is not At Home. A proper at-home test would be a kit that allows you to decode your DNA at home without a single strand DNA or byte of data landing on a system that does not belong to you.

How long until this is feasible? I've heard of DNA sequencing machines for $2k, but are not easy or reliable.

The analysis of your sequence is key. While there are some open source resources (hard for non-experts to use), the big consumer testing companies far and away have better analytical tools.
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