Various services have emerged over the past few years, promising to decode the User’s DNA to provide genetic or genealogical information such as 23andMe or Ancestry.com.
While these companies provide a novelty service, customers are required to accept a privacy terms agreement and submit a sample of their DNA to the companies. The access these companies have to a large database of DNA samples is incredibly valuable to law enforcement agencies and pharmaceutical companies worldwide, and bad actors aiming to access large swaths of private DNA information.
One company that provides the service, FamilyTreeDNA, has released a statement saying that it has “cooperated” with the FBI in several cases to identify suspected criminals or human remains. The implications this cooperation between private businesses and law enforcement agencies is huge, but the company so far has operated within the terms of its customer privacy agreement.
A good working relationship between companies like these, and law enforcement agencies, can solve previously unsolved criminal investigations but also has the potential of undercutting the privacy of users of the services. Companies should create guidelines and standard operating procedures for complying with government requests for information when handling sensitive customer information to protect the privacy of its users.
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