I was never so fucking stupid as to give my DNA to them.
I remember I didn’t and thank fucking god, because this would have been me:
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/tech/23andme-user-data-stolen-shkenazi-jewish-users/3336464/
Still waiting for the fallout from that. It won’t be pretty.
People are morons for doing these things and expecting any privacy.
23andMe has a “request data deletion” feature. I don’t know if it actually works, but it’s worth a try if you’re worried about it.
Yep, I had my data deleted. They told me so, but I don’t for a second believe it.
23 Data Miners and Me.
DNA might contain health information, but unlike a doctor’s office, 23andMe is not bound by the health-privacy law HIPAA. And the company’s privacy policies make clear that in the event of a merger or an acquisition, customer information is a salable asset. 23andMe promises to ask its customers’ permission before using their data for research or targeted advertising, but that doesn’t mean the next boss will do the same. It says so right there in the fine print: The company reserves the right to update its policies at any time. A spokesperson acknowledged to me this week that the company can’t fully guarantee the sanctity of customer data, but said in a statement that “any scenario which impacts our customer’s data would need to be carefully considered. We take the privacy and trust of our customers very seriously, and would strive to maintain commitments outlined in our Privacy Statement.”
There needs to be government protection of your DNA, but the government probably doesn’t want that
We take it very seriously, just not as seriously as money.
I had my sample destroyed the day they went public.
*you hope
Lol, sure you did.
They seem trustworthy. /s
Nope, I never did
But you can’t control what your family does.
Honestly terrifying. Once that info is out there, who knows what could happen.
Will insurance use it to see if you’re pre-disposed to something and charge more?
Will a fascist group use it to find groups they think are undesirable? What if there’s a genetic component or predisposition to being gay/trans?
Will future terrorists or governments use it to engineer a virus that only affects a group of people? Assasinate an enemy and their entire family?
You should probably just assume that your genetic information is already or will be out there at some point. If you want to protect against how it could be used against you, my suggestion would be to change your last name from a genetically-based one to one chosen by you. It isn’t foolproof since the name change is public record, but it creates a firewall that makes it harder.
That’s why I changed my legal name to “Marijuana Plant Johnson”
Too unique for a name database. Just change your last name to Nguyen or Chan. Throw off the scent.
Mohammed Nguyen it is
Ugh paywall.