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All of the at-home DNA testing companies include this in their license agreements, including the ability to use your DNA in case any of your relatives might be

All of the at-home DNA testing companies include this in their license agreements, including the ability to use your DNA in case any of your relatives might be accused of a crime. This is one case in which you definitely want to read the license before you sign up... then throw that test tube in the trash!

jstarfish 8y ago
It doesn't really matter what you do personally. If any of your relatives submit their DNA, you're compromised just the same.
- trhway 8y ago
  yep, your DNA spread around the relatives ( whom you may not even know about) is just like a BitTorrented movie - there is no way to put genie back. Even worse than that - at least in the movie case the studio does have legal rights to their movie while you have no rights wrt. the pieces of DNA of your relatives matching your DNA.
- pkaye 8y ago
  What if the relatives are okay with their DNA being used?
rabboRubble 8y ago
I know I'm not a serial rapist &/or murderer. I hope my family members are not. The question is: what do I value more? A society without serial rapist killers or my family? I guess I prefer a society without that sort of nonsense, so even if my DNA is used to ensnare a relative, and they were doing horrible stuff, I'd be heartbroken that a family member had gone so astray but grateful they were unable to hurt anybody else. See the investigative work using shirttail relative DNA to isolate the Golden State Killer. That said, do I want law enforcement to have willy nilly access to DNA to, for example, chase down littering? No, IMO that is an inappropriate level of intrusion for the societal problem. Do I trust government to exercise good sense with these tools? I fear not so much. But I guess we will get used to the intrusions just as we have become accustom to the gov hoovering up all our communications metadata to find terrorists.
- whatshisface 8y ago
  >The question is: what do I value more? A society without serial rapist killers or my family? I would got for option three, a society without false positives, and especially not a false positive because someone's naive uncle involuntarily submitted the entire family for testing.
- matwood 8y ago
  > A society without serial rapist killers or my family? That's the 'think of the children' argument. If that is the choice then why not full GPS surveillance or always on video cameras? The problem is that the DNA test is not 100% and will end up snaring a bunch of innocent people in a dragnet.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
cellularmitosis 8y ago
Speaking of "throw that test tube in the trash", I'll share my anecdote: One of the DNA testing companies was offering a free test for folks who suffer from things like autoimmune disorders (which I do). I signed up, got the kit, filled out the survey which asks a bunch of specific questions about which particular medical condition you have, etc. I set the box aside, planning to take it to work and drop it off in outgoing mail the next day. Well, _literally the next morning_ my youtube account was suddenly showing ads for medication for my particular condition. They didn't even wait to receive my DNA before selling me out! Threw that test tube in the trash faster than you can say "scumbag"!
- owlninja 8y ago
  I find it a little hard to believe this was just because of the survey...
- icelancer 8y ago
  This is the kind of thing that makes people not believe in the OP's story, because this is absolutely ridiculous. It's called cookie and fragment tracking across the Internet. That's what happened to you. You sold yourself out by browsing the web without sufficient content blockers.
  - g_sch 8y ago
    I mean, maybe, but GP also said they filled out a survey with their diagnosis information, so it's certainly plausible that the company added that information to their profile immediately.
  - cwkoss 8y ago
    Maybe it should be illegal to do ad tracking on sites about medical information. The fact that someone is browsing that site may be private medical information.
    - joering2 8y ago
      Considering there are only two countries in which advertising of pharmacy as allowed (to a point of fear mongering, like "the entire baby boom generation has hidden shingles - protect yourself before you die") - that is USA and Brazil, you're going to have a hard time convincing politicians to move their finger.. especially since majority of them are heavily founded by big pharma.

jstarfish 8y ago

It doesn't really matter what you do personally. If any of your relatives submit their DNA, you're compromised just the same.

trhway 8y ago
yep, your DNA spread around the relatives ( whom you may not even know about) is just like a BitTorrented movie - there is no way to put genie back. Even worse than that - at least in the movie case the studio does have legal rights to their movie while you have no rights wrt. the pieces of DNA of your relatives matching your DNA.
pkaye 8y ago
What if the relatives are okay with their DNA being used?

rabboRubble 8y ago

I know I'm not a serial rapist &/or murderer. I hope my family members are not. The question is: what do I value more? A society without serial rapist killers or my family? I guess I prefer a society without that sort of nonsense, so even if my DNA is used to ensnare a relative, and they were doing horrible stuff, I'd be heartbroken that a family member had gone so astray but grateful they were unable to hurt anybody else. See the investigative work using shirttail relative DNA to isolate the Golden State Killer. That said, do I want law enforcement to have willy nilly access to DNA to, for example, chase down littering? No, IMO that is an inappropriate level of intrusion for the societal problem. Do I trust government to exercise good sense with these tools? I fear not so much. But I guess we will get used to the intrusions just as we have become accustom to the gov hoovering up all our communications metadata to find terrorists.

whatshisface 8y ago
>The question is: what do I value more? A society without serial rapist killers or my family? I would got for option three, a society without false positives, and especially not a false positive because someone's naive uncle involuntarily submitted the entire family for testing.
matwood 8y ago
> A society without serial rapist killers or my family? That's the 'think of the children' argument. If that is the choice then why not full GPS surveillance or always on video cameras? The problem is that the DNA test is not 100% and will end up snaring a bunch of innocent people in a dragnet.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

cellularmitosis 8y ago

Speaking of "throw that test tube in the trash", I'll share my anecdote: One of the DNA testing companies was offering a free test for folks who suffer from things like autoimmune disorders (which I do). I signed up, got the kit, filled out the survey which asks a bunch of specific questions about which particular medical condition you have, etc. I set the box aside, planning to take it to work and drop it off in outgoing mail the next day. Well, _literally the next morning_ my youtube account was suddenly showing ads for medication for my particular condition. They didn't even wait to receive my DNA before selling me out! Threw that test tube in the trash faster than you can say "scumbag"!

owlninja 8y ago
I find it a little hard to believe this was just because of the survey...
icelancer 8y ago
This is the kind of thing that makes people not believe in the OP's story, because this is absolutely ridiculous. It's called cookie and fragment tracking across the Internet. That's what happened to you. You sold yourself out by browsing the web without sufficient content blockers.
- g_sch 8y ago
  I mean, maybe, but GP also said they filled out a survey with their diagnosis information, so it's certainly plausible that the company added that information to their profile immediately.
- cwkoss 8y ago
  Maybe it should be illegal to do ad tracking on sites about medical information. The fact that someone is browsing that site may be private medical information.
  - joering2 8y ago
    Considering there are only two countries in which advertising of pharmacy as allowed (to a point of fear mongering, like "the entire baby boom generation has hidden shingles - protect yourself before you die") - that is USA and Brazil, you're going to have a hard time convincing politicians to move their finger.. especially since majority of them are heavily founded by big pharma.