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I know I have the bright light/sneezing mutation :-) Would this be a concern about privacy exist if there was no way your genetic profile could be used against
by pstuart 13y ago
I know I have the bright light/sneezing mutation :-)
Would this be a concern about privacy exist if there was no way your genetic profile could be used against you? If you couldn't be discriminated in any way on that basis, what else would need to be hidden?
I'm not asking rhetorically -- what else do we have to hide about our genes?
- pfortuny 13y agoAssume you are a woman or older than 40. Can you know wherher you have been discrimined, say, when applying for a job? It is illegal... But it is quite likely unnoticeable as well.
- svachalek 13y agoHm, let's see, these markers indicate a high probability of low intelligence, and over here, shall we say lack of industriousness. Here's one that's tied to problems with authority. And this one is correlated to serious chronic health problems, how much sick leave do you normally take? By the way did you know your Dad is the same as mine?! I sure didn't.
- pstuart 13y agoI think that all of those examples could be datamined today without any genetic testing (and probably are).
- cdavid 13y agoIt is highly disruptive in terms of insurance. Insurance can only work if many people pay for the few who actually need the insurance. The best way for insurance companies to increase profits is to get rid of the people who actually need them from their pool: if they can have access to a good set of indicators to remove people with high incidence of diabete, kidney failure or cancer, they will use it. And once people understand that, nobody will use insurance anymore. Health may become another kind of risks you can't insure against anymore, like divorce or unemployment.
- joosters 13y agoSee the other story today about this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6807275 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6807275
- NoPiece 13y agoThat was true in the past, but is irrelevant now that insurance companies can't refuse to insure you, or even charge you more for pre-existing conditions.
- barista 13y agohow about charging you more because you have a higher risk of a certain disease?
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- ams6110 13y agoright, they just charge everyone more now.
- NoPiece 13y agoExactly, it was pretty dishonest for anyone to say the the ACA would reduce healthcare costs, it was obvious they were going to go up.
- joosters 13y agoNot true at all. If you know you are at higher risk thanks to your personal genetic test, you are more likely to buy yourself good insurance coverage. 1) More high risk customers buying the insurance concentrates the 'pool' of insured risks... 2) ...leading to more payouts 3) ...leading to higher insurance 4) ...leading to those without the risks opting to take cheaper, lower level coverage 5) ...leading to more concentrated risk in the pool of insured people in the good coverage 6) ...and back to step 2. The insurance fails, or becomes too high a cost to be worthwhile for anyone.
- joosters 13y agoLike any personal information, there are ways that it might affect or interest others. There's no magic, foolproof way of stopping people from using information against you other than not revealing it. Hence, hiding it is always a good fallback.
- ams6110 13y agoNext time the government decides to do away with "undesirables" they'll have a list already built for them.
- cesarbs 13y agoIf your genes reveal you are at a higher risk of developing certain diseases and insurance companies had access to that information, they might deny your their products or charge you more for them.