Hello,
All eight of the atDNA kits I have on GEDMatch have been changed (opted in) to allow Law
Enforcement use. This with my permission and those specific Carpenter family members who
supplied their DNA for comparison there.
I encourage others to support Law Enforcement to take a bite out of crime. Especially for
those cold cases waiting for justice to be served.
John R. Carpenter
La Mesa, CA USA
Carpenter Cousins Project - Our main support page!
https://carpentercousins.com
From: GEDMatch Notifications
Sent: Tuesday, June 04, 2019 8:38 PM
To: John R Carpenter
Subject:
GEDmatch.com TOS change
Hi John R Carpenter,
As you may know, we at GEDmatch recently instituted a change of policy regarding law
enforcement (LE) use of our site. We now require specific approval from each user who
wishes to have their information available for LE use. If permission is not given there is
no change in user ability to use GEDmatch for genealogical purposes. We have also
redefined the definition of violent crimes in our Terms of Service to better fit the
national standard established by the FBI. This email will bring you up to date on these
changes.
Most importantly, we wish to make it clear that we strongly support law enforcement. The
use of genetic genealogy for providing leads in violent crimes has been called the
“Biggest crime-fighting breakthrough in decades” Its incredible success to date has been
due almost entirely to the GEDmatch database. We encourage users who approve of LE use to
“opt-in” (make their information available for use in catching violent criminals). Those
who opt-in may never know if their information has been used to catch a murderer, rapist
or otherwise dangerous person. One reason police do not contact users whose information
might be used to solve cases is that it runs the risk of alerting a potential suspect. It
is also important to note that LE does not have any special access to GEDmatch. They
simply use the system and its features in the exact same manner as any member of the
public but are limited to seeing only matches with opted-in kits.
There may be some users of GEDmatch who do not wish to make their information available to
LE. These persons do not need to take any action; their previously uploaded kits are
automatically “opted-out.” They can use GEDmatch as they always have and their information
remains invisible to LE.
It is important to understand the role played by genetic genealogy in solving cases.
Genetic genealogy does NOT identify suspects. It points to a complicated process involving
many people, that if successful will result in identifying persons of interest. Most cases
that do not go cold start with persons of interest. Genetic genealogy simply puts police
in the position most cases start; it provides a person or persons of interest where none
existed previously. Once LE has a person of interest it is up to them to use traditional
investigative techniques to identify and arrest a suspect.
We have clarified our definition of violent crimes because the original definition was not
consistent with the definition in general use by the FBI and others. We learned this when
a 71 year old church organist was attacked and apparently left for dead as she practiced
alone in church. There was no known motive for the attack other than possibly the thrill
of doing it. There are those who felt that this did not fit our definition of a violent
crime.
We changed our Terms to require an affirmative action by the kit owner to allow
information to be visible to LE because we believe it is the right thing to do. Because
there are those who do not wish to have their information used for LE purposes, we believe
the ethically responsible position is to require users to specifically agree to the LE use
of their data. This was a very difficult decision to make because of the temporary
immediate impact it will have.
We are concerned about the handicap our actions have placed on solving cold cases. There
are millions of victims, including family and friends of violent crime victims and
unidentified remains who need some sense of closure. We have a fast start to rebuilding
the LE portion of the GEDmatch database. We encourage everyone who has had a genetic DNA
test done to consider helping to build the database for law enforcement use as quickly as
possible.
The GEDmatch Management