The Golden State Killer has been arrested!

[RichardX]

Going to be interesting to see what tipped them off,hope they reveal that soon,if there is a probable cause hearing in the next week or so,they will then..in addition to the above,from the story it sounds like he was burglarizing and robbing his victim as well,I wonder if maybe he needed money and tried to pawn something that was valuable from them,and they got him that way..it could be any number of things though,guess we will find out eventually..

So it turns out that some relative submitted their DNA to one of those DNA ancestry databases and it was a close enough match to allow them to search their family and find the likely suspect. They then got a sample of his DNA - likely by taking his garbage. It raises some interesting legal and privacy issues. The good news is that they got him. The bad news is that his lawyers will challenge much of this as the product of an illegal search. Imagine if they have to let the guy go!

 

[fljoe0]

So it turns out that some relative submitted their DNA to one of those DNA ancestry databases and it was a close enough match to allow them to search their family and find the likely suspect. They then got a sample of his DNA - likely by taking his garbage. It raises some interesting legal and privacy issues. The good news is that they got him. The bad news is that his lawyers will challenge much of this as the product of an illegal search. Imagine if they have to let the guy go!

So does that mean that law enforcement was already monitoring the ancestry DNA databases when the relative submitted DNA? If that's the case, I can see that being a legal problem. I'm glad that they caught him but if law enforcement is monitoring these databases with no warrants, I can see that being a big problem. Another issue is did the Ancestry site let them do this without telling anyone (their customers)?

 

[RichardX]

So does that mean that law enforcement was already monitoring the ancestry DNA databases when the relative submitted DNA? If that's the case, I can see that being a legal problem. I'm glad that they caught him but if law enforcement is monitoring these databases with no warrants, I can see that being a big problem. Another issue is did the Ancestry site let them do this without telling anyone (their customers)?

This all appeared to happen recently. The details are not clear like when the relative or relatives submitted their DNA sample. At the very least, law enforcement would have to have provided the killer's DNA to these companies and asked for their cooperation. And they would have to check all submissions against that sample. I suppose these private companies have their own privacy policies. They will likely be reluctant to provide details on what happened here since it might hurt their business. In this case, the results are good since a very bad guy was caught, but you can imagine the potential for abuses as DNA science becomes more sophisticated. Like insurance companies and employers being able to find out who might become ill etc.

 

[Bev Vincent]

So does that mean that law enforcement was already monitoring the ancestry DNA databases when the relative submitted DNA? If that's the case, I can see that being a legal problem. I'm glad that they caught him but if law enforcement is monitoring these databases with no warrants, I can see that being a big problem. Another issue is did the Ancestry site let them do this without telling anyone (their customers)?

Apparently there are some open-source DNA sites where people upload their results after they get them back from commercial services. That may be the database used by the police in this case.

 

[Mr Nobody]

Re: the procurement of the relative's DNA, over here at least the ancestry sites that offer DNA testing include a rider on their ads, essentially advising that they take some ownership of the data. I don't know the full T&Cs, but that usually means they reserve the right to sell that data to ' partners and interested third parties' for 'research'. Who those third parties have deals with, or even who they are, is unknown, but it's not beyond the realms of possibility that one of them is the govt/law enforcement.

It's really just another way in which people willingly give to private companies and corporations that which they would scream about preserving if the projects were suggested by govt (and thereby give that info to govt or its agencies anyway).
See also Echo Dot, et al. "Govt wants me to have a device that listens to everything I say and potentially records it for all time, though it'll be solely for govt use? Hell no! Privacy! Big Brother gone mad! Etc and blah" vs. "What's this? It 'helps' me shop and remember stuff? And they pinky-promise it doesn't listen to everything and record it for all time, though they reserve the right to hold and sell on any data I generate 'to help improve the AI'? Gimme!"

 

[RichardX]

Apparently there are some open-source DNA sites where people upload their results after they get them back from commercial services. That may be the database used by the police in this case.

I do wonder though whether law enforcement can gain access to such data without a warrant when the purpose is to use the information against them in a criminal case? I guess the best comparable example is the use of telephone information. Phone companies have data regarding the location of individuals via their cell phones etc. That can be used to identify a suspect. In many of those cases, I believe, the phone company asks for a warrant to cover themselves in case someone decides to sue them. I'm not sure what happens though if they turn it over to law enforcement without a warrant.

 

[RichardX]

News article provides some additional info. They apparently used something called GEDmatch. An open source database:

Here’s the ‘open-source’ genealogy DNA website that helped crack the Golden State Killer case – East Bay Times

 

[RichardX]

So here is the very best interview on the subject conducted with Paul Holes who deserves most of the credit for resolving this case. It includes a discussion of how the DNA evidence was pulled together:

FULL INTERVIEW: Inside the hunt for the 'Golden State Killer' with investigator Paul Holes | abc7news.com

 

[RichardX]

The police in PA have apparently solved another murder case from 1992 using a genealogy DNA database. Identical to the method used to find the GSK. Interested to see if there are legal challenges. The Supreme Court just ruled that police need a warrant to obtain cell phone locations from telephone companies. There are some similarities to obtaining information from a third party DNA database to identify a suspect. Also wonder if they are trying to solve cases like the Zodiac case? My understanding is that they may have obtained his DNA from letters. In which case, if any relative has participated in one of these genealogy databases, they should be able to obtain his identity. It's a wealth of information for cold cases and amazing that no one apparently has used it until recently. At the very least, a lot of bad guys must be getting very nervous.