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In the US, would genetic information like the kind collected here be covered by HIPAA? Are there any similar laws/regulations/protections in place for Africans?
by equalunique 7y ago
In the US, would genetic information like the kind collected here be covered by HIPAA? Are there any similar laws/regulations/protections in place for Africans? Is there something unique about those protections (or lack therof) when it comes to Nigeria, where 54gene is operating? I'm skeptical.
- droithomme 7y agoI've had pretty heated arguments over this with an old friend of mine from one of the big US companies. They argue forcefully that DNA information is not medical data and HIPAA does not apply to them at all. I don't agree with their claim, and believe HIPAA should apply, but it seems the US regulators are going along with them for now.
- Nasrudith 7y agoThey may be technically correct for their company and applications. Height and weight are medical data but a leak of that from non-medical contexts wouldn't be a HIPAA breach. Your doctor exposing it in a data breach would be in deep shit.
- carapace 7y agoHenrietta Lacks at scale. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HeLa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HeLa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrietta_Lacks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrietta_Lacks