Abstract
This Note discusses how privacy rights are implicated when direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing companies disclose an individual’s genetic information to law enforcement officers—often without any warrant or legal procedures required—who then use that data to implicate an individual’s family members in crimes.
After a brief introduction, Part II of this Note discusses DNA, what it is, and how it is used and tested by both state and private actors. It also provides a brief history of the Fourth Amendment with a specific focus on its application in jurisprudence as technology advances and privacy rights diminish. Finally, an overview of current statutory law related to general and genetic privacy rights as passed by Congress and individual states is offered. Part III analyzes the issues by attempting to reconcile current Supreme Court precedent interpreting the language of the Fourth Amendment to account for all of the complexities involved in dealing with genetic privacy. Part IV offers a statutory solution that will protect genetic privacy by proposing a new federal law that will (1) Require DTC ancestry and genealogy companies to adopt an automatic “opt-out” policy for consumers; and (2) Prohibit DTC genealogy and ancestry companies from sharing familial information with law enforcement agencies. The proposed statute will attempt to balance current Supreme Court precedent interpreting the Fourth Amendment, public policy interests in allowing law enforcement to solve crimes, and the need for rigid protection of genetic information in an age of incessantly advancing technology.
Recommended Citation
Najla Hasic,
An Invasion of Privacy: Genetic Testing in an Age of Unlimited Access,
44
S. Ill. U. L.J.
519
(2020).
Available at:
https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/siulj/vol44/iss3/5