FamilyTreeDNA wants you to share your personal data with the feds. The ancestry testing company got in hot water a few months ago when it was revealed that it had formed a partnership with the FBI to help it solve crimes using genealogy data. While the company has since made it possible for users to opt out of sharing this information with the government, it really doesn’t want you to do that.
To convince you, FamilyTreeDNA has a new marketing campaign. According to Gizmodo, this new PR blitz is called “Families Want Answers,” and it spotlights Ed Smart, the father of Elizabeth Smart–who was kidnapped for almost a year in 2002. The company’s press release explains that it’s important for companies in the ancestry testing industry to cooperate with the federal government to solve crimes.
FamilyTreeDNA highlights that users can opt out of sharing this data. But, it still feels it’s important that it share whatever data it can. The company’s founder and president explained in a statement from the press release: “If FamilyTreeDNA can help prevent violent crimes, save lives, or bring closure to families, then we feel the company has a moral responsibility to do so.”
So there you have it: You don’t have to give up your DNA data to the feds if you don’t want to. At the same time, FamilyTree feels a “moral responsibility” to cooperate with the FBI even if its business relies on collecting users’ DNA and has nothing whatsoever to do with crime solving.
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