Your DNA isn’t anonymous anymore.
Chances are you have heard of the companies 23andMe, Ancestry or MyHeritage. They are all consumer DNA testing companies that provide users with their personal genetic profiles. This business is booming, with companies like these masking a customer base of over 12 million people who are curious about their genetic makeup. So how exactly does it work? Well, consumers provide these companies with a sample of their saliva taken at home using a do-it-yourself kit and send it to the company’s lab. In return they get sent several reports about their ancestry, wellness and genetic health risks. Customers can also chose to add their results to public genealogy websites. These companies have gained considerable notoriety as of late due to their part in piecing together family trees, helping people find long lost family members, and even leading the police to capturing the infamous Golden State Killer.
So what exactly is so bad about sharing your data with these companies? Well, your putting your DNA in the hand of third parties. Your DNA is uniquely yours, until its not. MyHeritage announced earlier this year that millions of their user accounts had been hacked. None of these companies guarantee the security of your data and there are numerous reasons why hackers want to get their hands on it. They could try to sell your data back to you for ransom, threatening to share your data with insurance or loan companies, employers, or the police. This could affect your health insurance premiums, your possibility of getting a loan, and much more. Unlike a credit card or social media account hack, you can’t cancel your DNA, it’s with you forever.
What more, you don’t even need share your DNA with one of these companies for you to possibly be identified through one of these genealogy databases. New research has found that over half of the US population is now identifiable thanks to the DNA data shared by others. If sensitive data exists, there is a way to exploit it, and genetic testing is no exception. Knowing your DNA is the most important data you own, would you share it?
Sources:
https://www.sciencealert.com/dna-testing-service-exposed-92-million-customers-in-huge-data-breach
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/16/5-biggest-risks-of-sharing-dna-with-consumer-genetic-testing-companies.html
https://gizmodo.com/23andme-is-getting-lots-of-money-from-big-pharma-to-sha-1827891890
https://www.fastcompany.com/40580364/the-ftc-is-investigating-dna-firms-like-23andme-and-ancestry-over-privacy
https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/6/17435166/myheritage-dna-breach-genetic-privacy-bioethics
https://www.wired.com/story/genome-hackers-show-no-ones-dna-is-anonymous-anymore/
https://www.23andme.com/en-eu/dna-reports-list/
