An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Working with her Stanford colleague, Michal Kosinski, [Pin Pin Tea-makorn, ]a PhD student at Stanford] scoured Google, newspaper anniversary notices and genealogy websites for photos of couples taken at the start of their marriages and many years later. From these they compiled a database of pictures from 517 couples, taken within two…
Tag: Genealogy
Security Breach Exposes More Than One Million DNA Profiles On Major Genealogy Database
An anonymous reader quotes a report from BuzzFeed News: On July 19, genealogy enthusiasts who use the website GEDmatch to upload their DNA information and find relatives to fill in their family trees got an unpleasant surprise. Suddenly, more than a million DNA profiles that had been hidden from cops using the site to find partial matches to crime scene DNA…
Scientists Store Data in Synthetic DNA Embedded in a Plastic Bunny
A new method for preserving genetically encoded data into common manufacturing materials is reported. From a report: The future of digital memory may be inside a small plastic bunny that contains 3-D printing instructions for replicating itself stored in artificial DNA, said scientists Monday, who announced a method for mixing genetically encoded data into common manufacturing materials. The scientists sealed the…
DNA site GEDmatch sold to firm helping US police solve crime
One of the world’s biggest genealogy websites has been bought by a company that provides law enforcement agencies with genomic sequencing technology for forensic DNA work Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2226791-dna-site-gedmatch-sold-to-firm-helping-us-police-solve-crime/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Why US police could be using your genes to profile you right now
A worrying warrant for police access to a genealogy DNA databank in the US means no one’s genetic profile is safe – even if you don’t use the services Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24432562-900-why-us-police-could-be-using-your-genes-to-profile-you-right-now/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
DNA sites propose security plans to address genetic privacy fears
Recent weeks have seen a range of theoretical attacks against genetic genealogy services that could give access to people’s DNA, but there is a plan to prevent them Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2222720-dna-sites-propose-security-plans-to-address-genetic-privacy-fears/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
‘Game-Changer’ Warrant Let Detective Search Genetic Database
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The New York Times: Last week, a Florida detective announced at a police convention that he had obtained a warrant to penetrate GEDmatch and search its full database of nearly one million users. Legal experts said that this appeared to be the first time a judge had approved such a warrant, and that the…
DNA Databases Are a National Security Leak Waiting To Happen
schwit1 writes: A private DNA ancestry database that’s been used by police to catch criminals is a security risk from which a nation-state could steal DNA data on a million Americans, according to security researchers. Security flaws in the service, called GEDmatch, not only risk exposing people’s genetic health information but could let an adversary such as China or Russia create…
Privacy attack on DNA website reveals 93 per cent of a person’s data
One of the world’s biggest genetic genealogy websites, GEDmatch, has a vulnerability that means people’s data could be accessed without their permission Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2221972-privacy-attack-on-dna-website-reveals-93-per-cent-of-a-persons-data/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Genetic privacy attack could reveal DNA secrets from genealogy sites
Researchers say they have serious concerns about the genetic privacy of users of genetic genealogy services including MyHeritage, GEDMatch and FamilyTreeDNA Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2221138-genetic-privacy-attack-could-reveal-dna-secrets-from-genealogy-sites/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…