That Golden State Killer case, 56 I think. I mean, they basically used distant cousin matches to pinpoint him. It’s wild when you really think about it.
Honestly, the whole thing is crazy. I read how they built massive family trees from public DNA data, which took months of work. It makes me think about all the unsolved cases out there. But using distant cousins like that is a game-changer. My big question is, where do we draw the line on privacy? If your cousin gives DNA, you could be linked to a crime without ever knowing.
Yeah but is it actually that bad? Most people will never have their DNA used like that unless they're involved in something. If it catches murderers who've gotten away for decades, I'm kinda okay with it. The privacy stuff feels overblown when you weigh it against solving cold cases. My cousin submits her DNA, I'm not sweating it because I haven't done anything wrong. It seems like a useful tool, not some big scary invasion.