Ethical Controversies of Familial Searching: The Views of Stakeholders in the United Kingdom and in Poland

Abstract

Familial searching is a technology that detects genetic relatedness. The term is generally used to refer to searches conducted in criminal DNA databases to identify criminal suspects through their connection with relatives. Beyond criminal investigation purposes, familial searching might also be used for the identification of unknown bodies and missing persons. The United Kingdom and Poland are cases that illustrate the variability of familial searching meanings, uses, and regulations. In the United Kingdom, familial searching is regulated by exceptionality and is mainly used for the identification of suspects in serious criminal cases. In Poland, familial searching is regulated within the framework of expanding the scope of its application to the search and/or identification of missing persons. Drawing on interviews with diverse key stakeholders in the United Kingdom and Poland, we address the ethical controversies of familial searching in the field of criminal investigation and in the domain of missing persons together. We argue that the views of stakeholders about the ethical controversies of familial searching lead to prescribing specific notions of social risks, public good, and the accountability of the state.

Emerging DNA Technologies and Stigmatization

“…Familial searching is a term 1 generally refers to searches conducted in forensic DNA databases to identify criminal suspects using their genetic connection to biological relatives (Debus-Sherrill & Field, 2019;Granja & Machado, 2019;Haimes, 2006;Kim, Mammo, Siegel, & Katsanis, 2011;Suter, 2010). Therefore, familial searching usually refers to a process through which a DNA profile that does not match any other profile contained in a criminal DNA database is subjected to a new analysis, in order to determine whether there are close matches.…”

“…To date, only one empirical study on the topic of familial searching is known to have been undertaken in Europe. Based on a comparative study between the uses of familial searching in the UK and Poland, Rafaela Granja and Helena Machado outline the variability of familial searching in terms of meanings, uses and regulations (Granja & Machado, 2019). In the UK, familial searching is regulated by exceptionality and is mainly used for the identification of suspects in serious criminal cases.…”

“…This chapter thereby shows how familial searching prescribes particular notions of social risks, public good and the accountability of the state. The elements that coproduce the different ways of perceiving ethical controversies about familial searching carry with them the weight of sociohistorical and techno-political backgrounds, the influence of distinctive forms of state accountability as well as the contingent and circumstantial character of what each society considers the socially legitimate uses of genetic technologies (Granja & Machado, 2019).…”

“…Within such a complex scenario, it is clear that while familial searching in forensic DNA databases is framed by a series of inclusion and exclusion criteria that impose some safeguards in terms of genetic privacy (Granja & Machado, 2019;Haimes, 2006;Kim et al, 2011;Murphy, 2010Murphy, , 2018, private companies have extensive databases, with few restrictions and inexistent governance. Long-range familial searches in recreational DNA databases thus offer a way of circumventing long-established protocols in forensic DNA databases.…”

Civil society stakeholder views on forensic DNA phenotyping: Balancing risks and benefits

“…In terms of substantive discussions about how and where boundaries between acceptable v. unacceptable practices should be drawn, many authors suggest that FDP should only be used for externally visible traits (i.e., those that are clearly apparent to people looking at a person, as opposed to 'internal' traits, such as health-and disease-related aspects), only for 'serious crimes', or only as a 'last resort' (for a review, see [3]). Such an approach of "regulation by exceptionality" [10] meaning that a technology is introduced with the intention that it should only be used in exceptional circumstancesis already applied in decision-making processes regarding other forensic technologies in the criminal justice system, such as for familial searching. 2 Granja innocence within the bounds of a particular criminal case [10].…”