Is your DNA safe?

[solarsailor]

I watched a true crime programme called Bloodline Detectives on Quest Red last night where they were trying to solve a murder that took place in 1982 in the USA. Law enforcement had the DNA of both the suspect and the victim (who remained unidentified) but there were no records on the database at that time.

The police kept trying to find a match which might help in identifying the victim periodically over the years as the DNA database grew - even going as far as to spread the search worldwide - but didn't have any luck. So in 2019 they decided to check all the records held by private genealogy companies of people who had submitted DNA samples while trying to trace their roots and any possible relatives. Lo and behold they initially discovered a second cousin, and by a process of cross matching the second cousin's DNA to other records they managed to build a comprehensive family tree - which in turn allowed them to positively identify the murdered woman after 37 years.

Having had a result, the police then decided to try the same process (using the databases of genealogy companies) to see if they could identify the murderer and that too was a success - although it turned out that the perpetrator had topped himself in jail while being held on suspicion of three other murders.

I don't know for sure, but as far as I'm aware the UK police do not have the authority to check the records held on sites such as ancestry.co.uk and myheritage.com when searching for suspects.

Now I certainly wouldn't want to see the police using private DNA records to track down fare dodgers or someone who's nicked a Mars bar from the corner shop, but does anyone think that in special cases where a DNA profile can be unequivocally linked to a murder, act of terrorism or other heinous crime they should be allowed access to this information?

Personally I can't make my mind up on this one.