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People who hand over their DNA won’t care in the slightest. For the rest of us this confirms our understanding.

by pixxel 6y ago

Paul-ish 6y ago
What understanding is that?
- danhak 6y ago
  That it's foolish to have your genome in a database because there is no guarantee with regard to how that data may be used or misused in the future, or even who will own it.
  - wolco 6y ago
    That's like saying it's foolish to have your photos in a database.. Or Name... because someone might misuse it.
    - tengbretson 6y ago
      That very well might be the case.
      - interestica 6y ago
        How does this affect ancestry.ca, the Canadian wing? Is it operated separately? I suspect other laws might come into play for Canadian use data?
    - danhak 6y ago
      Correct. See, for example, this story about a man being arrested and jailed for a crime he didn’t commit because his photo was in a database: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/24/technology/facial-recognition-arrest.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/24/technology/facial-recogni... The implications for misuse of genetic information are even more serious.
      - xadhominemx 6y ago
        > The implications for misuse of genetic information are even more serious. Such as?
        stanfordkid 6y ago
        Utilizing biomarkers that are indicative of disease progression for discriminating against massive numbers of people -- for things like employment, healthcare and the like. The thing people don't realize is that laws are highly ineffective against this sort of thing... as machines and algorithms are fed data and made to output numbers ... even the implementers don't totally understand what exactly is leading to discrimination.
        xadhominemx 6y ago
        That is already illegal
  - peter303 6y ago
    China and India are seeking capture a good fraction of their population. The US military types every soldier, but claims to remove data when you separate. In contrast the US and Europe have purchased testing by volunteers at levels that beat the military and approach involuntary state programs.
  - Paul-ish 6y ago
    Calling it foolish implies choice. Your genome may be in the database if you have family that participates.
- obmelvin 6y ago
  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/05/business/dna-database-search-warrant.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/05/business/dna-database-sea... That the primary consequential use of these databases will be for law enforcement, not to tell you about your families history.
llsf 6y ago
How can you make sure that nobody in your family give their DNA, though ? Because by doing so, they partially reveal your DNA, and this can be used against you, especially if like The Blackstone Group, they also own healthcare companies.
- danhak 6y ago
  You can't. It's like the folks who say "just don't use Facebook." Well, that doesn't prevent other people from tagging me in photos.
- peter303 6y ago
  Some matches can made at one person, or fourth cousin. You could have a lot of them.
charia 6y ago
Anyone who was born in California after 1983, has had their DNA collected by the state. https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2018/05/08/california-biobank-stores-baby-dna-access/ https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2018/05/08/california-biob...
- tolbish 6y ago
  Apparently you can request for your child's data to be destroyed, but you won't get any kind of confirmation. Is this something the ACLU is aware of?
- justaguyhere 6y ago
  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/09/14/kuwait-plans-to-create-a-huge-dna-database-of-resident-and-visitors-scientists-are-appalled/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/09/14... This was four years ago, I wonder what the status is today. Key sentences from the article: There would be serious punishments for those who resist: Refusing the compulsory testing could mean a year in jail or a $33,000 fine Kuwait's government says the database could be used to fight terrorism and crime Ahh yes - the old, oft used and worn out terrorism excuse ...
throwgeorge 6y ago
>Blackstone is buying Ancestry.com from private equity firms Silver Lake, Spectrum Equity and Permira. it was already owned by PE
intotheabyss 6y ago
I mean, DNA traces are being left everywhere humans go. It will eventually be trivial to sample and sequence DNA. At that point, anyone could pick up your DNA traces in public and sequence them. I think we'll need to come to terms with the fact that DNA privacy will be non-existent in only a few decades.
- slg 6y ago
  I was just discussing this on here a couple weeks back [1]. Giving your DNA to a corporation is only a concern in the short to medium term. In the long term there will be nothing you can do to stop a malicious organization from taking your DNA. I asked what exactly were the negative repercussions that one can expect in that time frame from losing privacy regarding one's DNA and I'm not particularly worried about any of the answers. This news wouldn't yet change that even if ancestry.com had my DNA data. [1] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23923087 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23923087

People who hand over their DNA won’t care in the slightest. For the rest of us this confirms our understanding.

by pixxel 6y ago

People who hand over their DNA won’t care in the slightest. For the rest of us this confirms our understanding.

Paul-ish 6y ago

What understanding is that?

danhak 6y ago
That it's foolish to have your genome in a database because there is no guarantee with regard to how that data may be used or misused in the future, or even who will own it.
- wolco 6y ago
  That's like saying it's foolish to have your photos in a database.. Or Name... because someone might misuse it.
  - tengbretson 6y ago
    That very well might be the case.
    - interestica 6y ago
      How does this affect ancestry.ca, the Canadian wing? Is it operated separately? I suspect other laws might come into play for Canadian use data?
  - danhak 6y ago
    Correct. See, for example, this story about a man being arrested and jailed for a crime he didn’t commit because his photo was in a database: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/24/technology/facial-recognition-arrest.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/24/technology/facial-recogni... The implications for misuse of genetic information are even more serious.
    - xadhominemx 6y ago
      > The implications for misuse of genetic information are even more serious. Such as?
      - stanfordkid 6y ago
        Utilizing biomarkers that are indicative of disease progression for discriminating against massive numbers of people -- for things like employment, healthcare and the like. The thing people don't realize is that laws are highly ineffective against this sort of thing... as machines and algorithms are fed data and made to output numbers ... even the implementers don't totally understand what exactly is leading to discrimination.
        xadhominemx 6y ago
        That is already illegal
- peter303 6y ago
  China and India are seeking capture a good fraction of their population. The US military types every soldier, but claims to remove data when you separate. In contrast the US and Europe have purchased testing by volunteers at levels that beat the military and approach involuntary state programs.
- Paul-ish 6y ago
  Calling it foolish implies choice. Your genome may be in the database if you have family that participates.
obmelvin 6y ago
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/05/business/dna-database-search-warrant.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/05/business/dna-database-sea... That the primary consequential use of these databases will be for law enforcement, not to tell you about your families history.

llsf 6y ago

How can you make sure that nobody in your family give their DNA, though ? Because by doing so, they partially reveal your DNA, and this can be used against you, especially if like The Blackstone Group, they also own healthcare companies.

danhak 6y ago
You can't. It's like the folks who say "just don't use Facebook." Well, that doesn't prevent other people from tagging me in photos.
peter303 6y ago
Some matches can made at one person, or fourth cousin. You could have a lot of them.

charia 6y ago

Anyone who was born in California after 1983, has had their DNA collected by the state. https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2018/05/08/california-biobank-stores-baby-dna-access/ https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2018/05/08/california-biob...

tolbish 6y ago
Apparently you can request for your child's data to be destroyed, but you won't get any kind of confirmation. Is this something the ACLU is aware of?
justaguyhere 6y ago
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/09/14/kuwait-plans-to-create-a-huge-dna-database-of-resident-and-visitors-scientists-are-appalled/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/09/14... This was four years ago, I wonder what the status is today. Key sentences from the article: There would be serious punishments for those who resist: Refusing the compulsory testing could mean a year in jail or a $33,000 fine Kuwait's government says the database could be used to fight terrorism and crime Ahh yes - the old, oft used and worn out terrorism excuse ...

throwgeorge 6y ago

>Blackstone is buying Ancestry.com from private equity firms Silver Lake, Spectrum Equity and Permira. it was already owned by PE

intotheabyss 6y ago

I mean, DNA traces are being left everywhere humans go. It will eventually be trivial to sample and sequence DNA. At that point, anyone could pick up your DNA traces in public and sequence them. I think we'll need to come to terms with the fact that DNA privacy will be non-existent in only a few decades.

slg 6y ago
I was just discussing this on here a couple weeks back [1]. Giving your DNA to a corporation is only a concern in the short to medium term. In the long term there will be nothing you can do to stop a malicious organization from taking your DNA. I asked what exactly were the negative repercussions that one can expect in that time frame from losing privacy regarding one's DNA and I'm not particularly worried about any of the answers. This news wouldn't yet change that even if ancestry.com had my DNA data. [1] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23923087 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23923087