Does Law Enforcement Have Total Access to Your DNA on Genealogy Sites?

 With the lasted trend in DNA Genetic investigations being in the news a lot lately, we wanted to dive deep to see if our rights were being violated without our knowledge. With 23andMe and Ancestry.com being two of the major players in the genealogy/family tree game we thought we would see how and if they allow law enforcement free access to their records. After checking, both websites have said, "no, they do not allow law enforcement to use the DNA in their databases, and if law enforcement does indeed need access to it, they must get a warrant. Both genealogy sites have stated that they will do everything in their power to notify their consumers that the law is requesting access ahead of time, but there will be some incidences that it won't be possible to contact the consumer with advance notice.

Currently the only sites that allow law enforcement to access the DNA records is GEDMatch and FamilyTreeDNA . Even those two site have added additional rules for the use of their DNA. Basically, if you have your DNA in the websites, you must opt in, in order for law enforcement to use your DNA.

Currently the Department of Justice (DOJ) has an established temporary policy on Forensic Genetic Genealogy DNA Analysis. The National Genealogical Society has a committee that is working on best practices and standards. There are other groups, like the American Genetic Society that are advocating for the protection of genetic information. These laws and standards are evolving and will change over time to make sure that privacy laws are upheld, and the consumers that are uploading their DNA for genealogy purposes are protected.