The company FamilyTreeDNA, which is one of the country’s largest at-home genetic testing companies, had an ethical issue that came up in early 2019. Recently, the president, Bennett Greenspan, publicly apologized to the users for releasing DNA information to the F.B.I. without their permission. FamilyTreeDNA believes that they should have the rights to help the F.B.I. to solve violent crimes and rapes.
Joseph James DeAngelo is a U.S. Navy veteran who served in the Vietnam war. In 1973 he became a police officer in Exeter, California. He was known as the Golden State Killer in many counties across California. He was accused of raping at least 50 women and murdering at least 10 people during the timeframe of 1976 – 1986. The investigators believe that during his time as a police officer he was preying on the community. After the crimes were reported, Joseph James DeAngelo’s DNA was tracked down through a genealogy website similar to Ancestry.com. Since the DNA information was not allowed to be released without court order. They used GEDmatch.com, which is an open-source website that collects genetic profiles that people share publicly. The investigators with the Sacramento County Sheriff had to watch him when he went out and obtained DNA information when he would throw something out. They also collected DNA samples at the different crime scenes. When they had evidence of the DNA samples from many of the crimes, they were able to link the majority of them back to Joseph James DeAngelo.
FamilyTreeDNA thinks that by taking the action of working with the FBI will help families who are dealing with horrific situations, to give a peace of mind, knowing that they were able to identify the offender. On the other hand, it is unethical to release the DNA information without the user’s permission. If the Healthcare companies found out that their patient has the genes for cancer and/or other health issues, they may want to charge them extra knowing that they are likely to get it in the future. In the article it says, “…FamilyTreeDNA had marketed itself as a leader of consumer privacy and a fierce protector of user data, refusing, unlike some of its competitors, to sell information to third parties”. After the users found out about it, there was backlash from them because they thought that FamilyTreeDNA would respect their privacy and keep it confidential.
Sources
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/04/business/family-tree-dna-fbi.html
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