Christie Sticks It To Kushner

One Of The Biggest At-Home DNA Testing Companies Is Secretly Sharing Data With The FBI

Just one week ago, we warned that the government — helped by Congress (which adopted legislation allowing police to collect and test DNA immediately following arrests), President Trump (who signed the Rapid DNA Act into law), the courts (which have ruled that police can routinely take DNA samples from people who are arrested but not yet convicted of a crime), and local police agencies (which are chomping at the bit to acquire this new crime-fighting gadget) — was embarking on a diabolical campaign to create a nation of suspects predicated on a massive national DNA database.

As it turns out we were right, but we forgot one key spoke of the government's campaign to collect genetic information from as many individuals as possible: "innocent", commercial companies, who not only collect DNA from willing clients, but are also paid for it.

FamilyTreeDNA, one of the pioneers of the growing market for "at home", consumer genetic testing, confirmed a report from BuzzFeed that it has quietly granted the Federal Bureau of Investigation access to its vast trove of nearly 2 million genetic profiles.

While concerns about unrestricted access to genetic information gathered by testing companies had swelled since April, when police used a genealogy website to ensnare a suspect in the decades-old case of the Golden State Killer, that site, GEDmatch, was open-source, meaning police were able to upload crime-scene DNA data to the site without permission. However, the latest arrangement marks the first time a commercial testing company has voluntarily given law enforcement access to user data.

Worse, it did so secretly, without obtaining prior permission from its users.

The move is of significant concern to much more than just privacy-minded FamilyTreeDNA customers. As Bloomberg notes, one person sharing genetic information also exposes those to whom they are closely related. That’s how police caught the alleged Golden State Killer. And here is a stunning statistics - according to a 2018 study, only 2% of the population needs to have done a DNA test for virtually everyone’s genetic information to be represented in that data.

Thanks to its millions of customers, FamilyTreeDNA’s "cooperation" with the FBI more than doubles the amount of genetic data law enforcement already had access to through GEDmatch. According to BuzzFeed, and as confirmed by the company, on a case-by-case basis the company has agreed to test DNA samples for the FBI and upload profiles to its database, allowing law enforcement to see familial matches to crime-scene samples.

There is one caveat: FamilyTreeDNA said law enforcement may not freely browse genetic data but rather has access only to the same information any user might. Which of course, is ridiculous when the FBI has the same access as every single user.

Needless to say, the genealogy community has expressed dismay.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-02-01/one-biggest-home-dna-testing-companies-secretly-sharing-data-fbi

Trump to Call for Ending US Foreign Wars During SOTU Address - Sr. WH Official

President Donald Trump will reaffirm his intention to end US involvement in foreign military conflicts when he delivers his State of the Union (SOTU) address next week, a senior administration told reporters.

"In terms of protecting America’s national security, the president will update Congress on his diplomatic and military efforts around the world and reaffirm his determination to protect American interest and bring to an end our endless foreign wars," the official said on Friday.

Trump in a statement earlier in the day said the United States will soon have destroyed "100 percent" of the Islamic State terrorist group's (IS, banned in Russia) so-called caliphate and it was time to start bringing US troops home from Syria. Meanwhile, a State Department envoy has been engaged in talks with the Taliban over the possibility of a US withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan.

The administration official also told reporters Trump’s speech will focus on a way forward to resolve the impasse over a proposed wall on the US-Mexico border.

Congress' refusal to fund a border wall resulted in a partial government shutdown that delayed the annual State of the Union address, originally scheduled for January 29, until February 5.

According to the official, Trump will also call on Congress to approve the recently negotiated US Mexico Canada Agreement to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). In addition, Trump will review the US trading relationship with China and ongoing negotiations with Beijing to re-balance commerce between the two superpowers, the official said.

Other themes will include a request that Congress fund a bipartisan package to fix the nation’s aging infrastructure and efforts to lower costs of health care and drugs. The official described the current draft of the speech as upbeat in tone and an appeal to Congress for cooperation and compromise, the official said.

https://sputniknews.com/us/201902021072050712-trump-call-ending-usforeign-wars-during-sotu-address/

We'll see as it looks the opposite