Citizen science at the roots and as the future of forensic genetic genealogy

Forensic genetic genealogy is an emergent forensic technology that employs databases used by citizens to upload genetic data voluntarily to search for criminal suspects and/or unidentified individuals. Considering a wide view of the roots of forensic genetic genealogy, in this article, I draw on publicly available interviews with key stakeholders in the field, media articles, and companies’ statements to analyze how this technology is both grounded and based upon citizen science. That is, a type of science to which citizens actively, voluntarily, and consentingly contribute in various forms. On the one hand, I show how the emergence of forensic genetic genealogy is mainly based upon the work of individuals with a personal interest in genetic genealogy, who are heavily invested in constructing their own and others’ family trees. That is, citizens from various educational backgrounds and professional activities who became an untapped source of valuable expertise for forensic science because of their prolific experience in conducting genetic genealogy. On the other hand, I argue that the current situation of forensic genetic genealogy is also highly dependent on citizens’ interest and willingness to upload genetic data into publicly accessible genealogy databases and voluntarily deciding to make them available to law enforcement searches. Perceiving citizen science as being at the roots and as the future of forensic genetic genealogy has important implications for the forensic epistemic culture and the protection of citizens’ rights that must be considered in the development and implementation of such technology.The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work has received funding from the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT - Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) under the Programme Scientific Employment Stimulus – Institutional Call, attributed to Rafaela Granja (CEECINST/00157/2018). In addition, this work is also supported by FCT under the project UIDB/00736/2020 (base funding) and UIDP/00736/2020 (programmatic funding)

Long-range familial searches in recreational DNA databases: expansion of affected populations, the participatory turn, and the co-production of biovalue

Long-range familial searches in recreational DNA databases have been the subject of intense interest since the high-profile case of the Golden State Killer. This technique has raised considerable media attention and has sparked immediate criticism from forensic geneticists and other professionals, regulators, policy advisors, and ethicists. However, the literature on this topic does not capture the complexities resulting from the commodification of genetic data and the marketization of science. In this article, I explore how long-range familial searches conducted in recreational DNA databases reframe the trajectory of forensic genetics. Arguing that the advent and consolidation of long-range familial searches in recreational DNA databases represent the fourth wave of forensic genetics, I detail its implications, namely, the expansion of affected populations, the participatory turn, and the co-production of biovalue.This work was supported by H2020 European Research Council [grant number ERC Grant agreement No 648608]; Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia [grant number UIDB/ 00736/2020]; Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia [grant number CEECIND/ 00984/2018]

DNA transnational data journeys and the constuction of categories of suspicion

The authors thank the Canadian Journal of Communication for providing permission to deposit this article in this repository.Background Systems for large-scale data exchanges are playing a pivotal role in the governance, surveillance, and social control of criminality in different parts of the world. Analysis This article explores the case study of the Prüm system, which is a technological system for the exchange of DNA data among several European Union (EU) countries. Making use of the concept of data journeys, it addresses how the transnational exchange of DNA data in the EU implicates the construction of categories of suspicion. Conclusion and implications The article shows how supranational- and national-level notions and attitudes over the ownership of data shape data journeys, and it discusses the societal implications of datafication and emerging data justice issues.Contexte Les systèmes d’échange de données à grande échelle jouent un rôle central dans la gouvernance, la surveillance et le contrôle social de la criminalité dans différentes régions du monde. Analyse Dans cet article, nous prenons l’étude de cas du système Prüm, qui est un système technologique permettant l’échange de données d’ADN entre plusieurs pays de l’Union européenne (UE). En utilisant le concept de trajets de données, nous examinons comment l’échange transnational de données d’ADN dans l’UE implique la construction de catégories de suspicion. Conclusion et implications Nous montrons comment les trajets de données sont façonnés par des notions et attitudes supranationales et nationales sur la propriété des données et discutons des implications sociétales de la communication des données et des nouveaux problèmes émergents de justice des données.UIDB/00736/202

Risks and benefits of transnational exchange of forensic DNA data in the EU: The views of professionals operating the Prüm system

Under EU Law, Member States are compelled to engage in reciprocal automated forensic DNA profile exchange within the so-called Prüm system. Presently, 25 operational EU Member States exchange DNA data within the Prüm system to combat terrorism and cross-border crime. This article discusses the perceived risks and benefits of the Prüm system on the basis of a set of 37 interviews conducted in 22 EU countries, with 47 professionals operating the system (the National Contact Points – NCPs). The perceived benefits relate to the intensification of tools for combating transnational criminality; development of standardisation and harmonisation of forensic DNA testing procedures; and reinforcement of professional cooperation. The perceived risks are associated to the possibility that individuals may be prosecuted on the basis of false positives; the lack of available data to measure the effectiveness of the Prüm system; and the different modus operandi of police forces and judicial authorities. Our results reveal that perspectives on the risks and benefits of the Prüm system significantly vary according to the type of work performed by the NCPs. Our data shows a more complex range of perceived benefits and risks than those suggested in previous studies about the Prüm system.Este trabalho recebeu financiamento do Conselho Europeu de Investigação (ERC) sob o programa de pesquisa e inovação da União Europeia Horizonte 2020 (Contrato N.º [648608]), no âmbito do projeto “EXCHANGE – Geneticistas forenses e a partilha transnacional de informação genética na União Europeia: Relações entre ciência e controlo social, cidadania e democracia” liderado por Helena Machado e sedeado no Centro de Estudos de Comunicação e Sociedade, Instituto de Ciências Sociais da Universidade do Minho (Portugal)

Forensic genetics in the governance of crime

This open access book uses a critical sociological perspective to explore contemporary ways of reformulating the governance of crime through genetics. Through the lens of scientific knowledge and genetic technology, Machado and Granja offer a unique perspective on current trends in crime governance. They explore the place and role of genetics in criminal justice systems, and show how classical and contemporary social theory can help address challenges posed by social processes and interactions generated by the uses, meanings, and expectations attributed to genetics in the governance of crime. Cutting-edge methods and research techniques are also integrated to address crucial aspects of this social reality. Finally, the authors examine new challenges emerging from recent paradigm shifts within forensic genetics, moving away from the construction of evidence as presented in court to the production of intelligence guiding criminal investigations.This work has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no. 648608), within the project “EXCHANGE—Forensic geneticists and the transnational exchange of DNA data in the EU: Engaging science with social control, citizenship and democracy” led by Helena Machado and hosted at the Communication and Society Research Centre, Institute for Social Sciences of University of Minho, Portugal

Forensic DNA phenotyping and its politics of legitimation and contestation: views of forensic geneticists in Europe

Forensic DNA Phenotyping (FDP) is a set of techniques that aim to infer externally visible characteristics in humans – such as eye, hair and skin color – and biogeographical ancestry of an unknown person, based on biological material. FDP has been applied in various jurisdictions in a limited number of high-profile cases to provide intelligence for criminal investigations. There are on-going controversies about the reliability and validity of FDP, which come together with debates about the ethical challenges emerging from the use of this technology in the criminal justice system. Our study explores how, in the context of complex politics of legitimation of and contestation over the use of FDP, forensic geneticists in Europe perceive this technology’s potential applications, utility and risks. Forensic geneticists perform several forms of discursive boundary work, making distinctions between science and the criminal justice system, experts and non-experts, and good and bad science. Such forms of boundary work reconstruct the complex positioning vis-à-vis legal and scientific realities. In particular, while mobilizing interest in FDP, forensic geneticists simultaneously carve out notions of risk, accountability and scientific conduct that perform distance from FDP’ implications in the criminal justice system.This work has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement N.º [648608]), within the project “EXCHANGE –Forensic geneticists and the transnational exchange of DNA data in the EU: Engaging science with social control, citizenship and democracy”led by Helena Machado and hosted at the Communication and Society Research Centre, Institute for Social Sciences of University of Minho(Portugal

Vera Duarte e Manuela Ivone Cunha (orgs.), Violências e delinquências juvenis femininas: género e (in)visibilidades sociais, V. N. Famalicão, Húmus, 2014, 173 páginas

Violências e delinquências juvenis femininas: Género e (in)visibilidades sociais é uma obra coletiva, organizada por Vera Duarte e Manuela Ivone Cunha, que contribui para o desenvolvimento e expansão do debate sobre raparigas transgressoras ou em conflito com a lei. Conferindo enfoque à heterogeneidade de experiências, práticas e formas de envolvimento das jovens em práticas violentas e delinquentes, este livro explora as convergências e divergências entre os comportamentos de rapazes e rapar..

Risco, segurança e criminalidade: o suspeito "transnacional"

Face ao incremento da mobilidade de pessoas no espaço da União Europeia (UE) e a uma escala global, a criminalidade transnacional apresenta-se, cada vez mais, como uma fonte de preocupação política. De forma a dar resposta a potenciais riscos para a segurança pública, tecnologias forenses, como o DNA, têm sido mobilizadas no âmbito de práticas governamentais de expansão de bases de dados de informação que visam vigiar e controlar populações e indivíduos “suspeitos”. A este respeito destaca-se o facto de a UE ter criado um sistema transnacional para partilha automatizada de informação genética forense com vista a prevenir e combater a criminalidade organizada e transfronteiriça, o terrorismo e a imigração ilegal. Com base numa análise de documentos de natureza diversa destinados a debater a criminalidade transfronteiriça no espaço Europeu, a presente comunicação visa compreender significados morais e políticos de gestão do risco e de populações suspeitas. Os dados revelam que a monitorização transnacional de "populações suspeitas" envolve a produção de uma ampla gama de “novas” formas de controlo social que atuam sob a égide da neutralidade da ciência e tecnologia, pelas quais são (re)construídas categorias que agregam novas e “velhas” formas de suspeição e discriminação. De processos de materialização e quantificação da criminalidade transfronteiriça emergem categorizações de suspeição que reproduzem conceções dominantes de risco e segurança pública, ao mesmo tempo que vulnerabilizam os grupos sociais mais afetados por desigualdades económicas e políticas.In view of the increasing mobility of people in European Union (EU) area and on a global scale, transnational criminality has been increasingly presented as a source of political concern. In order to respond to potential threats to public safety, forensic technologies, such as DNA, have been mobilized under governmental practices of expansion of databases that aim to monitor and control “suspect” populations and individuals. In this regard we outline how EU has created a transnational system for automated sharing of forensic genetic information to prevent and combat organized and cross-border criminality, terrorism and illegal immigration. Based on an analysis of various types of documents intended to discuss cross-border crime in the European space, this communication aims to understand the moral and political meanings associated with risk management and with suspicious populations. The data shows that the transnational monitoring of "suspicious populations" involve the production of a wide range of "new" forms of social control that operate under the aegis of the neutrality of science and technology, by which categories that aggregate new and "old" forms of suspicion and discrimination are (re)constructed. From the materialization and quantification processes of cross-border criminality emerge categorizations of suspicion that reproduce dominant conceptions of risk and public safety that accentuate the vulnerability of the social groups most affected by economic and political inequalities

The (de)materialization of criminal bodies in forensic DNA phenotyping

First Published June 4, 2020.Forensic DNA phenotyping isa genetic technology that might be used in criminal investigations. Based on DNA samples of the human bodyfound at crime scenes, it allows to infer externally visible characteristics (such as eye, hair and skin colour)and continental-based biogeographical ancestry.By indicating the probable visible appearance of a criminal suspect, forensic DNA phenotyping allows to narrowdown the focus of a criminal investigation.In this article, drawing on interviews with forensic geneticists, we explorehow their narratives translate contemporary focus on criminalmolecularizedbodies. We propose the concept of (de)materialization to approach three aspects of the forensic geneticists’ views. The first regards consideringbodies as mutable entities. The second relates to socially contingent meanings attributed to bodies. The third regardsto controversies surrounding data reliability.Byreflecting upon the(de)materialization of criminal bodies, forensic geneticists juxtapose the defence and unsettling of forensic DNA phenotyping claims.This work has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Consolidation grant, agreement No. [648608]) within the project “EXCHANGE – Forensic geneticists and the transnational exchange of DNA data in the EU: Engaging science with social control, citizenship and democracy”, which is led by Helena Machado and hosted at the Communication and Society Research Centre (CECS), Institute for Social Sciences of the University of Minho, Portugal

Modes of bio-bordering: the hidden (dis)integration of Europe

This open access book explores how biometric data is increasingly flowing across borders in order to limit, control and contain the mobility of selected people, namely criminalized populations. It introduces the concept of bio-bordering, using it to capture reverse patterns of bordering and ordering practices linked to transnational biometric data exchange regimes. The concept is useful to reconstruct how the territorial foundations of national state autonomy are partially reclaimed and, at the same time, partially purposefully suspended. The book focuses on the Prüm system, which facilitates the mandatory exchange of forensic DNA data amongst EU Member States. The Prüm system is an underexplored phenomenon, representing diverse instances of bio-bordering and providing a complex picture of the hidden (dis)integration of Europe. Particular legal, scientific, technical and political dimensions related to the governance and uses of biometric technologies in Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and the United Kingdom are specifically explored to demonstrate both similar and distinct patterns.UIDB/00736/202