5 ms·

The problem with this situation is A) precisely that you don't know what people are going to do with it, and B) that once it's out there it's impossible to undo

The problem with this situation is A) precisely that you don't know what people are going to do with it, and B) that once it's out there it's impossible to undo that. You're confident enough that nothing can be done, to the point that you'd take the risk for no upside. That... doesn't sound rational to me?

latchkey 3y ago
> A) precisely that you don't know what people are going to do with it We know now, they are going to leak it. Everyone is going to know that I'm an Ashkenazi Jew who is more likely going to have blue or brown eyes and hair loss. Whooops.
- progman32 3y ago
  And we now (hypothetically, in the context of leaking genetic info) know Meryem is Uyghur, James is trans, and Alex is related to a deeply divisive political figure.
  - latchkey 3y ago
    > By day, the government pays me to publish their data.
    - progman32 3y ago
      Yes, my background is in publishing open government data, such as budgets, election results, environmental info, economic data, and government program accountability studies. Not personal information. And yes, I do have strong opinions on how data is to be responsibly managed, hence my participation in this conversation. So, I'm curious if you have additional thoughts on the matter.
      - latchkey 3y ago
        I see where you're going with your point, but my gut feeling is none of that data is anything new. We know where Meryem was born (govt records which you probably helped make public), we can read James' twitter feed and we know the relatives of political figures (except for all the illegitimate children). So yea... I'm still not seeing the issue here.
        progman32 3y ago
        If you'd like to make an argument that my work led to the publication of personal records, please make it more explicitly. I'd love to hear it fully articulated. Otherwise it's hard for me to read it as anything beyond a swipe. We are assuming James posted such details to a public twitter feed. That does not account for the others who did not. The issue in Meryem's case is that obtaining birth records is not guaranteed (especially from a foreign country), and that birth location isn't the same as genetic ancestry. Regarding Alex: > except for all the illegitimate children That is part of my point. If my absent parent were actually some famous politician, I would personally not want to have that information leaked. Some might not care - that's great. My point is a simple one - just because having private medical info exfiltrated is not really a big deal for many people, doesn't mean that it's ok to give a pass to the parties responsible for the exfiltration.
        latchkey 3y ago
        Sorry, it isn't a swipe directly intended to be a personal attack of any sort. More that govt's, in general, have a habit of leaking personal information for their own benefit. Your original comment was all about hypotheticals, so yes, it opens up the discussion to assumptions. Agreed that, in general, it sucks that stuff leaks out. That said, every time someone brings up 23andme, it feels like one of those "the govt is going to shut down in a week if we don't do something!" type of headlines that seem to be on repeat... where in the end it turns out that at the last minute, something is done to prevent it, and everything turns into a giant nothing burger.
        progman32 3y ago

latchkey 3y ago

> A) precisely that you don't know what people are going to do with it We know now, they are going to leak it. Everyone is going to know that I'm an Ashkenazi Jew who is more likely going to have blue or brown eyes and hair loss. Whooops.

progman32 3y ago
And we now (hypothetically, in the context of leaking genetic info) know Meryem is Uyghur, James is trans, and Alex is related to a deeply divisive political figure.
- latchkey 3y ago
  > By day, the government pays me to publish their data.
  - progman32 3y ago
    Yes, my background is in publishing open government data, such as budgets, election results, environmental info, economic data, and government program accountability studies. Not personal information. And yes, I do have strong opinions on how data is to be responsibly managed, hence my participation in this conversation. So, I'm curious if you have additional thoughts on the matter.
    - latchkey 3y ago
      I see where you're going with your point, but my gut feeling is none of that data is anything new. We know where Meryem was born (govt records which you probably helped make public), we can read James' twitter feed and we know the relatives of political figures (except for all the illegitimate children). So yea... I'm still not seeing the issue here.
      - progman32 3y ago
        If you'd like to make an argument that my work led to the publication of personal records, please make it more explicitly. I'd love to hear it fully articulated. Otherwise it's hard for me to read it as anything beyond a swipe. We are assuming James posted such details to a public twitter feed. That does not account for the others who did not. The issue in Meryem's case is that obtaining birth records is not guaranteed (especially from a foreign country), and that birth location isn't the same as genetic ancestry. Regarding Alex: > except for all the illegitimate children That is part of my point. If my absent parent were actually some famous politician, I would personally not want to have that information leaked. Some might not care - that's great. My point is a simple one - just because having private medical info exfiltrated is not really a big deal for many people, doesn't mean that it's ok to give a pass to the parties responsible for the exfiltration.
        latchkey 3y ago
        Sorry, it isn't a swipe directly intended to be a personal attack of any sort. More that govt's, in general, have a habit of leaking personal information for their own benefit. Your original comment was all about hypotheticals, so yes, it opens up the discussion to assumptions. Agreed that, in general, it sucks that stuff leaks out. That said, every time someone brings up 23andme, it feels like one of those "the govt is going to shut down in a week if we don't do something!" type of headlines that seem to be on repeat... where in the end it turns out that at the last minute, something is done to prevent it, and everything turns into a giant nothing burger.
        progman32 3y ago