What is the company’s plan for all the data it has collected since it was founded in 2006?

Anya Prince, a law professor at the University of Iowa’s College of Law who focuses on genetic privacy, said those worried about their sensitive DNA information may not realize just how few federal protections exist. For instance, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, also known as HIPAA, does not apply to 23andMe since it is a company outside of the health care realm.

“HIPAA does not protect data that’s held by direct-to-consumer companies like 23andMe,” she said.

Although DNA data has no federal safeguards, some states, like California and Florida, do give consumers rights over their genetic information. “If customers are really worried, they could ask for their samples to be withdrawn from these databases under those laws,” said Prince.

  • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
    242·
    2 months ago

    Sold to businesses of coarse! Fuck the laws, what are they going to do to us? We won’t exist next month!

  • Gork@lemm.ee
    17·
    2 months ago

    I’ve been curious about these services but never did one because I was concerned about exactly this sort of thing. Your genetic data can’t change, and having it leak to the Internet is permanent and irreversible.

    Unfortunately there’s no DIY genomic sequencing setup we can get into, aside from making a career out of it.

    • Avid Amoeba@lemmy.ca
      5·
      2 months ago

      I watched something about a murder investigation where the cops went over how they do their analysis and I don’t remember any details but what stuck with me was that you don’t need to have your DNA in the database in order for them to be able to trace to you or very close to you, if folks close to your genetic tree have submitted theirs. So I’m afraid that when the nazis take power, it won’t matter much if you kept your DNA from 23andme. This whole data collection being allowed to happen is a genocide waiting to happen.