Consumer genomics company Ancestry has confirmed it fought two U.S. law enforcement requests to access its DNA database in the past six months, but that neither request resulted in turning over customer or DNA data.
The Utah-based company disclosed the two requests in its latest transparency report covering the latter half of 2020. The report said Ancestry “challenged both of these requests, which were withdrawn,” and that the company “provided no data” at the time of the report, published Tuesday.
Ancestry did not say which agencies or police departments requested the DNA data or for what reason the company challenged the request. Ancestry spokesperson Gina Spatafore confirmed the search warrants were to obtain DNA data but declined to comment beyond what was in the report.
The company also said in its most recent report that it “refused numerous inquiries” from U.S. law enforcement for failing to obtain the proper legal process. The report also said the company received four valid law enforcement requests, but that it did not provide any data in response.
You can learn more in an article by Zack Whittaker in the TechCrunch web site at: https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/10/ancestry-police-warrant-dna-database/