Introduction Survivors, family members, law enforcement, and true crime fans alike rejoiced in 2020 when Joseph DeAngelo? , better known as the Golden State Killer, was sentenced to life imprisonment. For over three decades, authorities floundered in their search for the man responsible for at least 13 murders, 50 rapes, and 120 burglaries. Their breakthrough was the result of a DNA match—by uploading crime scene DNA to an online genealogy database, investigators were able to link the evidence to DeAngelo? ’s great-great-great-grandparents. In addition to taking dangerous offenders like DeAngelo? off the streets and giving victims and their families peace of mind, DNA testing has been used to exonerate more than 200 wrongfully convicted people. These anecdotes and statistics serve as compelling evidence in support of using online genealogy databases to solve crime. However, law enforcement’s use of commercial DNA databases brings with it a slew of serious privacy and constitutional concerns. The issues raised by this new investigative technology make clear that it is in desperate need of regulation.

History of DNA Collection In 1987, police in Leicestershire, England became the first law enforcement officials to make an arrest on the basis of DNA evidence. After failing to solve the rapes and murders of two girls using traditional investigative methods, local law enforcement officers employed the help of genetics professor Dr. Alec Jeffreys to test the DNA of over 4,000 men in the area, eventually leading to the identification, arrest, and conviction of the murderer. Though the DNA dragnet in Leicestershire was ultimately successful, it was also a time-consuming and labor-intensive process. The event proved the potential of DNA evidence to revolutionize criminal investigation, but without a centralized collection of DNA samples, DNA evidence would be limited in its use. Congress sought to create such a collection with the DNA identification Act of 1994, which authorized the FBI to create a national database of DNA collected from convicted offenders and crime scenes. Today, the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) contains more than three million DNA profiles. As the FBI worked on compiling its own database, private companies began developing their own. In 2000, a Texas-based company called Family Tree DNA became the first to offer genetic genealogy tests to the public. In the years since, the DNA testing industry has exploded; as of 2019, over 26 million people having submitted their DNA to commercial ancestry and health databases—a number expected to nearly quadruple by this year. Law enforcement agencies quickly realized that they could expand their DNA comparisons beyond CODIS to include the commercial sector. In the same manner as the average consumer, investigators can send a crime scene DNA sample to commercial databases and receive a list of matches. They can then identify an individual who exactly matches their sample or narrow their suspect pool based on familial matches.

Privacy Concerns

Constitutional Concerns

Conclusion/Solution

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