this mealy-mouthed "excuse" yesterday, too.
I was adopted as an infant, and for nearly the last four years, I have been using genetic genealogy to attempt to find my biological family. I depend heavily on the cooperation of others to do this, as I need to build a pedigree chart for a matching person, and then find other matching people on the same segments of DNA to do the same with. Even if I have full cooperation of everybody involved, there is still a chance that there is an undocumented adoption, or an affair that might throw me off the trail. Plus, my genealogical research has to be accurate, on top of that.
What FTDNA is doing is accepting DNA evidence from the FBI, and putting it in the consumer database. When I ask someone for family tree information, how do they know I'm not a cop? Sure, some people would love to dig up the dirt in their family, but a sizable number don't want to work on their Junior Crimestopper badge, and risk having Grandma be pissed at them next Thanksgiving for ratting out Cousin Vinny.
If fewer people test, then I have fewer matches to work with, and it really takes a very close match to find a biological parent, you're not going to do it with a handful of third cousins.
The chilling effect of this use (misuse, in my opinion) of DNA testing extends to members of minority groups who wish to find their own parentage, but if enough people in their ethnic group are scared off because of the law enforcement possibilities, then they don't get their answers, either. A couple of years ago, I worked with a Canadian woman who was also adopted, her father was an African-American touring with a theatre group in Toronto when she was conceived. Her bio-mom put her up for adoption in a neighboring province, and subsequently filed a request to not disclose her identity when that province changed their laws to open up the books.
If FTDNA would clearly mark the profiles as being from crime scene DNA, at least people would have the choice to cooperate with law enforcement or not. And I, being a real human being, and not somebody who's going to put their second cousin behind bars, would gain credibility for my request.
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