The Department of Justice released new rules governing when police can use genetic genealogy to track down suspects in serious crimes, reports Science magazine. It is the first-ever policy covering how these databases, popular among amateur genealogists, should be used as law enforcement attempts to balance public safety and privacy concerns. The value of these websites was highlighted last year when Joseph DeAngelo was charged in California with a series of rapes and murders that had occurred decades earlier. Investigators tracked down the suspect, dubbed the Golden State Killer, by uploading a DNA profile from a crime scene to a public ancestry website, identifying distant relatives, then using traditional genealogy and other information to narrow their search. The approach has led to arrests in at least 60 cold cases around the U.S.
Such searches raise privacy concerns. Relatives of those in the database can fall under suspicion even if they have never uploaded their own DNA. One study found that 60 percent of white Americans can now be tracked down using such searches. Those who have shared their DNA may not have given informed consent to allow their data to be used for law enforcement searches. The DOJ said its interim policy, which takes effect November 1, is intended to “balance the Department’s relentless commitment to solving violent crime and protecting public safety against equally important public interests,” such as privacy and civil liberties. The policy says “forensic genetic genealogy” should generally be used only for violent crimes such as murder and rape, as well as to identify human remains. The policy applies only to DOJ agencies and state or local agencies with federal funding to use genetic genealogy searches.