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Police have attempted to use the UK's largest family tree website to resolve identity fraud cases.
BRitual officers have requested user data from the Ancestry industry giant three times in 2017, according to the company's transparency reports.
Some 10 million people visit this site to find out about their family's history and find their missing loved ones.
In addition to creating family trees, customers can exchange their DNA for genetic information, receiving a report indicating what percentage of their DNA comes from different parts of the world and their relatives.
Between 2015 and 2017, law enforcement agencies around the world made 57 requests for Ancestry user data, of which 52 were accepted.
The numbers show that the number of claims has more than doubled over this period, suggesting that police forces around the world are turning more and more to ancestral sites to help solve crimes.
The 44 requests for information submitted between 2016 and 2017, of which 39 were accepted, were subpoenas for criminal offenses related to investigations of fraudulent use of credit cards and theft of money. ;identity.
City police in London, whose fraud squads are investigating some of the most complex cases in the UK, did not know what kind of information the police would have asked Ancestry.
However, the police may have suggested that police officers use the family tree site to find out if the name used by an identity fraudster was that of a deceased.
None of the requests were for genetic material, although there is growing interest in the police to access this information as a result of using the GEDmatch DNA database to arrest a suspect in the Golden Case. State Killer, California.
Police transferred DNA from the murderer's alleged crime scene into the GEDmatch database, which unlike Ancestry is public, and found loved ones as close as a third cousin who drove them to a group of suspects.
To use GEDmatch, users must agree to make their information public and attach at least one email address to their profile.
Ancestry told the Sunday Telegraph: "Ancestry's highest priority is to protect the privacy of our customers and to be good stewards of their data.
"This commitment to confidentiality means not sharing customer DNA data with third party insurers, employers, or marketers.
"In addition, Ancestry will not share customers' personal information with law enforcement unless it is compelled by valid legal process, such as a court order or court order. search."
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