An article published in the New York Times discusses one of the most popular at home DNA testing companies, FamilyTreeDNA. The company issued an apology to customers after information surfaced that the company was sharing DNA information with the FBI in an attempt to help solve violent crimes. The database was opened exposing more than two million different genetic records without the consent of the consumer.
In my opinion, this is an incredible invasion of privacy. I am sure most of the individuals who participated in the genetic mapping through FamilyTreeDNA are not violent criminals but they did not agree to share their genetic information. I do not believe it should be legal to share this information without the consent of the consumer. I would be more understanding if a specific person was a suspect in a crime and a court order allowed access to the information. I do not even like having my e-mail shared between companies, I could only imagine if someone shared my genetic data.
Well, we know that this was bound to happen. The FBI was developing a system from which they will be able to identify genetic records themselves. This was an invasion of privacy, and it will bring a crazy decrease in business for many DNA testing companies.
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