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I am a security engineer. When I signed up for 23andme, I assumed with certainty that it would be hacked and all data leaked at some point. I balanced that with
by xvector 3y ago
I am a security engineer. When I signed up for 23andme, I assumed with certainty that it would be hacked and all data leaked at some point. I balanced that with the value of knowing potentially important health/genetic bio markers.
In the end, I valued knowing these bio markers above the privacy of my genome. The former is actionable and I can use it to optimize my health and longevity; the latter is of vague value and not terribly exploitable outside of edge-case threat models.
- smarkov 3y agoExactly my thoughts. I'd be more upset if a combination of my name and email/phone number got leaked than if my DNA was made available public.
- tuwtuwtuwtuw 3y agoWhy would you be upset if your name+phone combo was leaked? Mine is all over internet so wonder why you feel it would be bad.
- smarkov 3y agoI simply don't want to deal with spam or scams. If I'm exposing my contact details it would be a separate set that is dedicated to dealing with communication coming from the public.
- themaninthedark 3y agoWhy? You can change your phone number and your name. Good luck with doing so with your DNA.
- hot_gril 3y agoPhone numbers are an increasingly important identifier. Sucks to lose one.
- tuwtuwtuwtuw 3y agoWhat do you mean by "identifier"? For me, phone numbers have had reduced importance over the last couple of years. Most of my communication with other people are over various messaging apps.
- hot_gril 3y agoIdentifier as in, used for authentication and possibly even tied to your real name. Even messaging apps don't tend to have screen-names like AIM, they have phone numbers, including the so-called "privacy-focused" Signal. Tons of in-person services (govt, banks, etc) will also want one, and it may be used as yet another piece proving your real identity.
- tuwtuwtuwtuw 3y agoAlright. Where I live, phone numbers are public info and not secret so here they are not used when authenticating yourself against a bank or similar. Using a phone _number_ to authenticate yourself against the government seems completely bizarre to me. I understand that leakage of phone numbers become a problem if you use them for those kinds of things. But honestly, using them for authentication seems crazy from a security point of view.
- smarkov 3y agoAnd that is exactly why they can be changed - because they're valuable details that can be used to track someone down. Your DNA is easily obtainable and is not used in any meaningful way that would affect your life if it was exposed.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- c7b 3y agoIn retrospect, how do you so far value the utility of the data you got? Did you take any actions based on them, do you think you will be doing so in the future?
- xvector 3y agoLuckily I had no severe biomarkers. Some minor ones, but nothing I didn't know already. I loved learning about my ancient ancestry, though (ie migratory patterns 300k years ago.) On balance, was the utility worth the cost (of a breach)? Probably not, because I found no major actionable issues. But if I did find severe biomarkers, it would have been worth it. So I do still think I made the right choice.
- logifail 3y ago> I can use it to optimize my health and longevity Q: Is it a HN thing to be (obsessively?) interested in health and longevity? Dying is a natural process. Sorry.
- rfrey 3y agoIt's a human thing. Not all humans, but many. > Dying is a natural process. Sorry. Avoiding dying, as best one can, is also a natural behaviour.
- logifail 3y ago> Avoiding dying, as best one can, is also a natural behaviour Source? Natural selection is about passing on our genes which looks like: reproduce, raise your offspring ... <roll credits>
- averageRoyalty 3y agoWe fight all sorts of natural processes. Most common forms of death from a couple of centuries ago are solved. Our average lifespan has increased dramatically. We fly around in planes, travel to space, grow fruit out of season and build giant cities. As a species, we're excellent at working around or ignoring what's "natural".
- xvector 3y agoI don't really care whether it's natural or not. Maybe if you ever have a NDE you will understand.
- hot_gril 3y agoAnd I'm probably gonna die before any of these theoretical DNA privacy risks becomes real.