--- title: Genetic Databases Could Identify Millions of Americans description: A new study says 60% of Americans of European descent could be identified by information in consumer genetic databases. canonical: https://time.com/5423170/dna-test-identify-millions/ author: Jamie Ducharme article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-10-12T19:49:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-12T17:03:00.000Z article:section: Health og:title: Millions of Americans Could Be Identified Using Genetic Databases—Even If They've Never Taken a DNA Test og:description: A new study raises privacy concerns. But there could also be benefits og:url: https://time.com/5423170/dna-test-identify-millions/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt18b3278eec6b9ce2/69893c8aab6d77cd136b3ecb/dna-testing.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4608 og:image:height: 2592 og:image:alt: Hands of a scientific investigator in a laboratory of molecular biology realizing works of extraction of DNA in plants. Spain. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Millions of Americans Could Be Identified Using Genetic Databases—Even If They've Never Taken a DNA Test twitter:description: A new study raises privacy concerns. But there could also be benefits twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt18b3278eec6b9ce2/69893c8aab6d77cd136b3ecb/dna-testing.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Millions of Americans Could Be Identified Using Consumer Genetic Databases—Even If They've Never Taken a DNA Test > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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Description - Time explores DNA privacy, and what is at stake._  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Updated: Dec 12, 2023 5:03 PM UTCPublished: Oct 12, 2018 7:49 PM UTC  Bioengineered. Scientific experiment in a Molecular Biology Laboratory with Arabidopsis seedlings, DNA extraction sequence of plants. Bioengineered. Scientific experiment in a Molecular Biology Laboratory with Arabidopsis seedlings, DNA extraction sequence of plants. Jose A. Bernat Bacete—Getty Images  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Updated: Dec 12, 2023 5:03 PM UTCPublished: Oct 12, 2018 7:49 PM UTC Up to 60% of Americans of European descent could be identified using only a DNA sample, some basic personal information and consumer genetic databases—even if they’ve never done a genetic test themselves, [according to a new study published in _Science_](http://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2018/10/10/science.aau4832). Some [7 million Americans](http://thednageek.com/dna-tests/) have taken a direct-to-consumer DNA test, many of which promise insights about ancestry, wellness and [likelihood of developing certain chronic diseases](http://time.com/5189939/genetic-testing-breast-cancer/) in exchange for a sample of spit. The proliferation of these tests has also given rise to crowdsourced online databases that allow people to anonymously upload their results for further analysis and ancestry research. One of these sites, GEDmatch, [proved instrumental](http://time.com/5256835/how-did-golden-state-killer-genealogy-websites-online-dna-police/) in arresting the suspected Golden State Killer in April, [sparking questions about genetic privacy](http://time.com/5257474/golden-state-killer-genetic-privacy-concerns/). Those questions bubbled back up in July, [when consumer testing giant 23andMe announced](http://time.com/5349896/23andme-glaxo-smith-kline/) that it had sold a stake of its business to pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, so that GSK could use anonymized data in drug development. In the new _Science_ study, researchers wanted to see just how anonymous genetic data really is. Not very, they found: If investigators were presented with a random DNA sample from an American of European ancestry, they could in roughly 60% of cases use consumer genetic databases to find a third cousin or closer blood relative match. (Since fewer Americans of other heritages have participated in consumer genetic testing, it would be harder to identify these individuals.) Zeroing in on that relative match makes it significantly easier to identify an individual — and with some basic personal information, the search gets even simpler, the study says. Narrowing the list of individuals to those within a 100-mile radius would exclude 57% of the possibilities, the study says. Estimating the target’s age, plus or minus five years, would cross off 91% of the remaining pool. And inferring the person’s biological sex would leave only 16 or 17 individuals, the authors estimate — a short enough list, theoretically, to investigate them individually. “This is the first time we’ve had some sort of thoughtful quantification for how easy it is to track any individual, whether they participated in these databases or not, through the people who have participated in these databases,” says Dr. Robert Green, a medical geneticist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School, who was not involved in the research. “I think that’s something everybody should understand be aware of.” The prospect of being tracked may seem scary. After all, genetic databases are feasibly open to abuse, Green says. Sperm donors or biological relatives who wished to remain anonymous could be identified, for example, or an individual’s medical privacy could be violated by exposing his predispositions to certain diseases. But Green says these risks need to be weighed against the significant benefits of genetic tracking. “All of the crimes that are currently unsolved, which have DNA evidence, there’s now a pathway to trying to locate these perpetrators,” Green says, pointing to the [backlog of unanalyzed rape kits](https://www.npr.org/2016/01/17/463358406/whats-being-done-to-address-the-countrys-backlog-of-untested-rape-kits) currently sitting in storage across the country. “I would like to see it interpreted through this prism. We could do a huge amount of social good that way.” [Another new study](https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674%2818%2931180-2?utm%5Fsource=STAT+Newsletters&utm%5Fcampaign=83ce8d7d69-MR%5FCOPY%5F01&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fterm=0%5F8cab1d7961-83ce8d7d69-150444909), published Thursday in the journal _Cell_, adds to the debate. This paper looked at the possibility of identifying a person’s relatives by comparing national forensic databases, which include DNA samples from criminal offenders, with consumer genetic databases. The two typically rely on different genetic markers to identify an individual — but even still, the _Cell_ paper found that around 30% of people in the forensic database could be linked to a parent or child in a consumer database, and about 35% could be linked to a sibling. That possibility could make it even easier for law enforcement officials to track down suspects, but it also underscores how identifiable people are by their genetic information. Plus, the new study suggests that the DNA samples in the national forensic database are [more revealing than they are often described](https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/10/we-will-find-you-dna-search-used-nab-golden-state-killer-can-home-about-60-white). A spokesperson for 23andMe, the biggest player in the consumer DNA testing space, emphasized that its private databases are secure, though the same can’t necessary be said for third-party sites. “23andMe implements strong security and privacy protocols to protect our customers’ data,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “However, 23andMe cannot guarantee the same level of protections on third party sites — for example, if a customer downloads their 23andMe raw data and uploads it to another website. Our Help Center, Privacy Statement, and in-product experience all advise customers that third parties may use personal information differently than we do under our Privacy Statement. We recommend that customers make such choices carefully and review the privacy statements of all other third parties involved.” It’s important that consumers understand these scenarios before they spit in a tube, but Green emphasizes that the issues they raise aren’t so different from many realities of modern life. “It is a legitimate concern for people who are privacy-minded,” Green says. “But I really think this needs to be put in the context of all the other tradeoffs we make in our daily life, like putting our credit card online for a purchase, or being on Facebook or other social media, where information we provide can be scraped and diced and analyzed. At the present time, I think the potential benefit, in terms of criminals who could be captured, far outweighs the vulnerability, in terms of privacy intrusions.” Even one of the most common issues raised in the genetic privacy debate — that family members who didn’t choose to take a DNA test are pulled into the fray — has a social media parallel, Green says. “The person who posts a lot of Facebook pictures generally posts them with other people,” he says. “As soon as facial recognition software gets better and better, any photograph is going to tell people who’s in that photo.” Of course, there are plenty of people who are equally uncomfortable with these privacy issues, particularly following [Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal](http://time.com/5209729/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-cambridge-analytica/) this year. But modern society has largely accepted these risks in continuing to weave social media, the Internet and now consumer genetics tests into everyday life. According to the _Science_ study, it would be possible to identify nearly anyone in a certain group using a genetic database that includes information about 2% of that population. For Americans of European descent, that’s around 3 million people. And since [DNA test kits are only getting more popular](https://globenewswire.com/news-release/2018/06/05/1516735/0/en/Genetic-Testing-Market-worth-over-22-Billion-By-2024-Global-Market-Insights-Inc.html), the study says, that number is “foreseeable for some 3rd party websites in the near future.” ## Transcript Oh. When it comes to keeping tabs on your personal info in this digital arraf here's yeah could be more public than you realize. He April 25 arrest of the Golden State killer the predator responsible for a string of rapes and homicides in the seventies and eighties. Has any sites in the spotlight. Now before finding the alleged Golden State killer investigators first found his great great. Great grandparents. And DNA evidence preserved from the scene of the crime. And that's small independent genealogy site called jet match. One Portman didn't directly approached the genealogy site about the case. In fact they were able to use FB profile using posing as a user researching their family history up on the killer's DNA information. We're immaculate me to the predators and distant relatives from the 18100. And while the site's privacy policies that users should provide their real names for registration. Judge Matsch's policy informed users that they're seeing that could be mined for other purposes. Clearly genealogy sites aren't just for personal family trip pursuits. Don't have to keep track of who has access to your genetic and about and what exactly does speak. Just click your Social Security number your genetic information could be easily abused. Not only that your genes reveal sensitive information about people here believe it to tear. Judge Matsch has almost one million users who voluntarily shared their genetic in battle making it accessible to anyone uploading their own data. Including a law enforcement. More than a dozen similar platforms exist. While other sites may have more stringent policies. Like Ancestry. Com. Or 23 and me you're still giving companies access to revealing information about your health. The only history and relatives. Even if you haven't participated. If relatives have shared there's a live and your part of me online gambling treat you can be tracked down through their DNA and the only history records. The consumer DNA testing trend doesn't look like it's slowing down. The market has valued at seventy million dollars and when he fifteen. Estimates expected to be worth 340. Million dollars by 22 when he TO. In fact Ancestry. Com sold one point five million DNA test kits on Black Friday 2017. Alone. But while these sites have led to the arrest of the alleged Golden State killer. It isn't people have also been wrongly accused based on information pieced together from DNA databases. And accessed poses serious questions around user privacy and rights while the T doesn't any genetic information nondiscrimination act protects consumers from employment. End insurance discrimination related to genetics the law offers no protection for life insurance. Disability insurance long term care insurance or even military service. You wouldn't hand out your Social Security number without having a good idea how was being used right. The treat your DNA with the same level of sensitivity and read the fine print to understand how your genetic material can be used. 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