In an article published in the January 2020 edition of Dicta, the Journal of the Knoxville Bar Association, Stephen Ross Johnson focuses on the privacy issues with genetic genealogy. The U.S. Department of Justice recently issued an interim policy concerning genetic genealogical analysis, effective November 1, 2019, as a guide to law enforcement on the use of genetic genealogy information, such as that collected by the various family tree websites. Johnson writes, “The process is not without controversy. Unlike traditional DNA analysis, statistical modeling is used with genetic genealogy, and there are privacy concerns with accessing DNA profiles on genealogy websites. Yet it can be a powerful tool to potentially solve crimes and correct wrongful convictions.”
Read more on page 15 of the January 2020 edition of Dicta here.