The Golden State Killer (non-NBA edition)

Whether it brings this guy to justice or not, surely I'm not the only one a bit troubled by the precedent that this might set, or the potentially thorny legal and privacy issues it raises, right? The cops going through a third party to obtain DNA samples from a suspect who might or might not (who knows how the paperwork was worded?) have had an expectation of confidentiality appears on the surface to be an insanely sketchy tactic.
Plus, if that gets thrown out then the whole case pretty much goes kaput, right? Since most of the damning evidence would have flowed from the discovery?
It'll be very interesting to see how this plays out. Seems like some gung-ho libertarian defense attorney has an incredibly juicy case if they want it.

 

Golden State Killer: Did anger toward ex-fiancee motivate him?

“Most certainly if he’s making the statement, ‘I hate you, Bonnie,’ while he’s attacking another female, he is what we call an anger retaliatory rapist,” directing his anger at someone else, said Paul Holes, a retired Contra Costa County investigator who has been intimately involved with the investigation for decades. “I do believe that’s what happened here. I don’t know what made him that way, but you’ve got to think Bonnie dumped him, he’s not happy about that, he still had feelings for her, who knows? But something along those lines must have happened.”

 

I'm not sure what you're saying here. They didn't go through the suspect's DNA. They went through the DNA of a relative who proved to be a close enough match to get them in the ballpark. And that relative, by signing up with the site, has given his or her data to be used publicly.

It's a very interesting part of the privacy debate. I can't see the legal issue, though.

 

I think those of us who have used 23+Me and other DNA testing sites were under the impression the "public" samples were anonymous, like medical records. I certainly wasn't aware police would have access to my DNA just because I used the private company's product.

 

All your DNA are belong to Google founder's wife ...

23andMe Is Terrifying, but Not for the Reasons the FDA Thinks

This becomes a particularly acute problem once you realize that every one of your relatives who spits in a 23andMe vial is giving the company a not-inconsiderable bit of your own genetic information to the company along with their own. If you have several close relatives who are already in 23andMe’s database, the company already essentially has all that it needs to know about you. It is doubtful that 23andMe would be able to protect that information even if it were so inclined.

 

The site they used is open sourced and pretty explicitly explains that:

GEDmatch DNA website helped crack Golden State Killer case

 

My sister recently used 23andMe. Little did I know this was gonna put a crimp in my long-term criminal career.

 

That might be worse, actually. They're trying to convict someone of a crime by using a third party's previous and indirect transaction with another third party as a primary tool in the investigation. The relative might waive his expectation to privacy by participating, but did DeAngelo? And where did GEDmatch get the sample? Did the relative upload it, or did they get it from one of the other sites and then put it out there.
This opens the door for the cops to start combing through these sites on fishing expeditions.
It might all be legal and kosher. I'm not a lawyer. It seems invasive, though.
At the very least, it's a reminder not to go bargain basement if you're dumb enough to send a DNA sample to one of these places.

 

If police can ID you thru your brother Timmy's DNA at 23andme, I'd imagine it's the same for the other genome companies, high end or low rent.

 

The DNA-geneaology thing is super strange to me.
People are worried that Fb and Google are tracking their browsing and purchase histories in exchange for their free platforms and selling that browsing and purchase info to marketers.
But people are willing to send a firm their DNA samples and pay the firm to add their DNA profiles to the firm's database.

What could go wrong?

 

Alexa would like to have a word with you too.

We 1984'd ourselves.

 

It is the year 2060.

Genealogists have taken over the world, revealing embarrassing facts about everyone's great, great grandfather. Namely that he paid sticker price for a 1985 Pontiac Fiero.

One man can stop them.