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Remember That DNA You Gave 23andMe? (www.theatlantic.com)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/news@lemmy.world
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[–] 37 points 2 years ago (1 child)

I'm so glad I never sent them my DNA. It was tempting from a genealogy perspective. But my concerns about privacy and them selling on customer information always weighed heavier than that temptation.

But I feel a lot of sympathy for those who used their services. For a while they incessantly advertised them, including via paid endorsements from many 'trusted' podcasters and YouTubers. The company's failure should bring to the fore a drive for new laws in many countries to protect consumers' DNA from being monetized and exploited. But sadly we all know it won't.

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  • [–] 27 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    So the fun thing about genetics is... if you said no, but they conned enough of your family, they got a good part of your genome anyhow.

    In my case, Mom was somewhat interested about it when it came out. Dad too. And i told them no to, because, well one, sharing data bad. But also, this buisiness is a one off. There are no repeat customers and it was destined to be sold to the highest bidder.

    For once, my parents listened. But good god. This company has already been mined by police to use genetic info from relatives to convict their family members. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/27/magazine/dna-test-crime-identification-genome.html

    Murder convictions and serial rapists going to jail, i got no problem with, but that slippery slope exists. And from years of experience, im not inclined to give the authorities my data, even by proxy. The abuse potential is immense and history is not on the average citizens side.

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