Your DNA and the Police
One morning in 2018, I was woken from a deep sleep to be told something shocking - the Golden State Killer had been caught. Using DNA. This was "wake up Leah" worthy for many reasons. Perhaps most of all because I had submitted my DNA to the site used to identify the Golden State Killer years earlier due to my own research.
This was the first time I had heard of this method of genealogical research being used to solve a crime. Actually, this was the first time I had seen anyone but genealogy nerds talking about this technique at all. The genealogy community was abuzz with excitement and also concern. I, for one, had not intended to consent to police using my DNA to solve crimes - or had I?
GEDmatch quickly came out with a statement that they had had no prior knowledge that police were using the database, and almost as quickly they provided opt-in//opt-out selections so that users could decide if they wanted to explicitly permit or deny police access to their DNA and their family tree data stored on GEDmatch.
Today most DNA testing services explicitly refuse to allow police access to their DNA databases. However, this is not the whole story. The information provided in family trees and uncovered by researchers may be used by police and police- related orgs even without their use of DNA databases.
"People Lie, DNA Doesn't"
It's impossible to know what you might find via your DNA, and it would be irresponsible to direct someone to do a DNA test without warning of the possible outcomes. If you're seeking one unknown parent, they may be different from what you've been told or what you expect. You could also find that a known parent's side has more questions than you expected to find. Some unknown relatives do not wish to be found and can be very hurtful in how they express that. It's always recommended to screenshot your matches and any information about those matches (their tree, who your shared matches are, etc.) before reaching out!