If you watched the news or saw any of the big headlines the last couple of days you probably saw that the Golden State Killer/The East Area Rapist was caught and arrested nearly 40 years after his crimes. So how did they actually catch him? Did he confess to his crimes, did someone close to him out him? The answer is actually much more interesting than you think, they caught him by matching him to a relative who used a geneology site like 23andme and were able to eventually acquire a DNA sample from him and compare it to the old profile they had in their file.
I have to admit this idea by the police was actually brilliant, especially with the amount of people now using sites like 23andme, Ancestry, ect to find out their DNA background history. It is unknown what site they actually used, but the idea that if any of your relatives have cataloged their DNA, that they can narrow down their suspect list substantially. With new breakthroughs in DNA analysis as well, it is only going to be easier to catch someone if they leave DNA behind at a crime scene, or if the police have DNA from cold case files, which many times they do.
In the name of privacy, I personally wouldnt give up my sample and I dont think anyone should be forced to give up their sample, unless they commit a felony and are sent to jail. However that being said, its a very interesting way of essentially creating a database of DNA matches so if someone you are directly related to, they can be caught of crimes they might have committed. If you are someone who doesnt think anything would be done with that DNA profile, you might be interested in providing yours.
For me the most interesting thing will now be how these companies react to how the DNA connection for this case was found. Im sure these companies are very serious about their security and privacy when it comes to their users, so they will probably fight back. I expect if further probes for other DNA matches do come up, which I fully expect they will with other unsolved crimes that have DNA evidence, but no suspects to check it against, companies will either sue the government or take action in other ways. I am sure that not everyone who took these tests wants their DNA profile out there.
Overall I find this one of the most interesting ways that a criminal has been caught and it does give me hope that other cold case files will be solved in the near future. However I do think there will be pushback by some of the users and the companies themselves who might stop holding the DNA or at least give the option to opt out once these tests are done. I think though that holding the DNA was a plan all along for many of these companies who might look to do something with the data and sell it if it becomes valuable for some reason. Well have to wait and see but I think we will see some very interesting developments.
-Calaber24p