(MM)
NOW A TARGET 12
CONUMER
INVESTIGATION...
DNA KITS --
WHAT YOU NEED TO
KNOW.
THEY'RE POPULAR FOR
ANYONE---- WHO WANTS
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT
THEIR FAMILY TREE.
(HE)
YOU MIGHT EVEN BE
PLANNING TO GIVE ONE TO
MOM THIS MOTHER'S DAY.
SO TONIGHT... CONSUMER
INVESTIGATOR SUSAN
CAMPBELL TAKES A LOOK
AT HOW THESE DNA
TESTS WORK...
....AND WHAT YOU NEED
TO CONSIDER BEFORE
YOU SIGN UP FOR ONE.
DNA TESTS LIKE "23 AND ME"
AND "ANCESTRY.COM" PROMISE
TO REVEAL YOUR ETHNICITY,
FLAG HEALTH CONCERNS, AND
EVEN CONNECT YOU WITH
RELATIVES YOU NEVER KNEW
EXISTED.
words can't describe. After 56
years, I found my sister! I love
her.
FOR LONG-LOST SISTERS
MELODIE SEIDEL AND LISA
DUNN ... THE TEST FILLED IN
SOME BLANKS.
FOR OTHERS... THEY'VE
CREATED NEW HOLES.
NANCY It's like somebody took a
big bite out of your life.
NANCY RYAN IS A PRODUCER
AT OUR SISTER STATION IN
TAMPA, FLORIDA.
WHEN SHE TOOK A DNA TEST --
THE RESULTS BROKE HER
HEART.
I was lost a little bit. I first
thought
there had to be a mistake.
the man who raised me wasn't
really
my father. It was
devastating. It was a tremendous
loss. It was like he had died
again. I
loved him.
DAN EGGLESTON
EXPERIENCED A SIMILAR SENSE
OF LOSS WHEN HIS DNA TEST
RESULTS SHOWED HIS
GRANDFATHER WASN'T HIS
DAD'S BIOLOGICAL FATHER.
DAN
it was pretty devastating bc I
had
done a lot of research on that
line.
EVEN JUST DETERMINING
WHERE YOU'RE FROM ISN'T
ALWAYS TOTALLY CLEAR.
a student of mine, she's from
Ukraine. And she got her test
results back and they say you're
partly Russian and partly
Lithuanian.
and she goes oh my God.
my parents are from ukraine what
happened all of the sudden my
family tree is totally wrong. So
that's
not really true. but it may be
that
they don't have a bunch of
sequences of people who are from
ukraine and have been from
ukraine
for a long time.
RACHEL SCHWARTZ IS AN
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN THE
SCHOOL OF BIOLOGICAL
SCIENCES AT URI.
SHE SHOWED US WHAT DNA
SEQUENCING LOOKS LIKE.
ALL OF THESE LETTERS ARE
CODE FOR WHAT MAKES A
PERSON UNIQUE.
DNA TESTS LOOK FOR THE
SIMILARITIES IN THIS CODE.
how accurate are they?
the DNA test itself is only as
informative as the data that
you
have
You've got to have samples of
all
the populations that you're
from, if
you are a little bit of this and
a little
bit of that and you don't have
really
good samples of all of those
populations, the computer is
going
to assign you to something
WE CHECKED WITH SOME OF
THE MOST POPULAR DNA TEST
COMPANIES. THEY ALL PRIDE
THEMSELVES ON THE
ACCURACY OF THEIR TESTS.
YOU CAN READ THEIR PUBLIC
STATEMENTS RIGHT NOW ON
OUR WEBSITE, WPRI.COM.
WITH THE TARGET 12
INVESTIGATORS, SUSAN
CAMPBELL, EYEWITNESS NEWS.
(HE)
THIS CONSUMER
INVESTIGATION
CONTINUES NEW ON
EYEWITNESS NEWS AT SIX.
(MM)
WE'RE LOOKING INTO
PRIVACY CONCERNS
AROUND THESE DNA
KITS...
AFTER POLICE IN
CALIFORNIA SAY---- THEY
CAPTURED AN ALLEGED
SERIAL KILLER USING AN
ONLINE DNA DATABASE.
(MM)
NEW DETAILS IN A TARGET
12 CONSUMER
INVESTGATION...
DNA KITS -- WHAT YOU
NEED TO KNOW.
(HE)
A COLD CASE IN
CALIFORNIA.
A SUSPECT -- FINALLY
BEHIND BARS.
(MM)
INVESTIGATORS SAY THEY
CAPTURED THE ALLEGED
GOLDEN STATE KILLER
BECAUSE OF AN ---ONLINE
D-N-A DATABASE.
(HE)
NEW AT SIX -- HOW THE
CASE IS RAISING NEW
CONCERNS ABOUT D-N-A
PRIVACY -- AND WHAT YOU
NEED TO KNOW IF YOU
DECIDE TO TEST YOUR
OWN GENETIC CODE.
CONSUMER
INVESTIGATOR SUSAN
CAMPBELL HAS THE
DETAILS.
THE GOLDEN STATE KILLER
TERRORIZED CALIFORNIA IN
THE 70S AND 80S... COMMITTING
12 MURDERS AND 45 RAPES.
BUT THE CRIMES ABRUPTLY
STOPPED AND CASE WENT
COLD UNTIL JUST A COUPLE
WEEKS AGO.
THE DNA WAS ALWAYS THERE
ON DECADES-OLD CRIME
SCENE EVIDENCE.... JUST
WAITING FOR LAW
ENFORCEMENT TO FIND A
MATCH.
(SOT ANNE MARIE SCHUBERT /
SACRAMENTO COUNTY
DISTRICT ATTORNEY 17:01:18)
I believe very strongly that
it's the
greatest tool ever given to law
enforcement
WITH THAT GENETIC PROFILE...
INVESTIGATORS SEARCHED A
FREE GENEOLOGY WEBSITE
CALLED GEDMATCH.
THEY GOT A PARTIAL HIT... A
RELATIVE OF A 72 YEAR OLD
EX-POLICE OFFICER NAMED
JOSEPH JAMES DEANGELO.
POLICE SAY ANOTHER DNA
TEST CONFIRMED DEANGELO
WAS THE KILLER WHO HAD
ELUDED THEM FOR SO MANY
YEARS.
BUT THE CASE HAS RAISED
NEW QUESTIONS ABOUT DNA
TESTS AND PRIVACY.
GEDMATCH.COM SAID "Although
we were not approached by law
enforcement or anyone else about
this case or about the DNA, it
has
always been GEDmatch's policy to
inform users that the database
could
be used for other uses."
AND THE FEDERAL TRADE
COMMISSION IS CAUTIONING
CONSUMERS WHO ARE
CONSIDERING DNA TESTING TO
CONSIDER THE PRIVACY
ISSUES.
THE FIRST THING TO DO... IS
COMPARISON SHOP.
ASK HOW YOUR HEALTH AND
GENETIC INFORMATION WILL BE
USED AND SHARED.
-YOU SHOULD ALSO CHOOSE
YOUR ACCOUNT OPTIONS
CAREFULLY..
SOME IMPORTANT QUESTIONS
TO ASK... WILL MY PROFILE BE
AVAILABLE TO OTHERS ONLINE?
AND CAN OTHER USERS SEND
ME PERSONAL MESSAGES?
WE CHECKED THE PRIVACY
POLICIES FOR A COUPLE OF
THE MOST POPULAR DNA TEST
KITS.
ANCESTRY SAYS THE COMPANY
"is committed to being a good
steward of your Personal
Information, handling it in a
responsible manner, and securing
it
with administrative, technical,
and
physical safeguards."
23 AND ME SAYS... We are
committed to providing a secure
and
safe environment for our
Services.
OUTRO - THE FTC SAYS IT'S
ALSO IMPORTANT REALIZE
HACKS HAPPEN. EVEN IF DNA
TESTING COMPANIES PROMISE
TO PROTECT YOUR SENSITIVE
INFORMATION... THERE IS A
POTENTIAL THAT IT COULD
FALL INTO A HACKER'S HANDS.
WITH THE TARGET 12
INVESTIGATORS, I'M SC EWN.