4 ms·

I'm still not sure about privacy side of the 23andMe. Whole testing procedure could be designed to be completely anonymous, yet upfront I have to provide name,

• buboard 8y ago
  even if they didn't, they need postal name/address to send the kit
  • magnat 8y ago
    Not really. I can buy the kit from a reseller or even OTC by cash and send it back without providing a return address. Apart from that, I shouldn't need to register on their website to access my results. There could be unique, randomly generated URL on a scratch card in the kit, where the results will be put as soon as they are done with sequencing.
• arikrak 8y ago
  Do they verify the information, couldn't someone use a pseudonym? (Though then your relatives who take the test might be surprised by the new relative they discover..)
  • nilram 8y ago
    I bought a test and had to use my own name for shipping and payment (because of the delivery and payment services involved). Someone else (cough, cough) registered the test for their own sample and the results. For 23andme, the discovery of relatives is optional. A user can choose to not receive any information about potential relatives, or to disclose minimal information, to allow messaging without names, or to disclose a name. I may be misremembering some of the granularity, but names do not have to be automatically disclosed.