Technology

23 and me isn't a healthcare provider and not a "covered entity" under HIPAA . So the protections that would apply if you got genetic testing through your doctor from an actual medical genetic testing company don't actually apply to 23 and me. Though the company maintains it follows federal regulations voluntarily "as a courtesy."

So don't worry, your genetic data is protected by the good will of venture capital tech bros.

That's probably the best case scenario honestly. They use our saliva and cure cancer. That's a great thing for humanity.

The other applications range from questionable to dystopian.. Making a database of everyone's DNA for law enforcement, data leaks and dark-web selling your DNA sequences, insurance buying the data to limit coverage after a claim, forensic genealogy as a way to catch criminals, using forensic genealogy to predict future offenders, targeted bio weapons, future tech like making clones of people, manufacturing fake evidence to plant, using genetic info to target certain types of people (race, gender, what if sexuality is genetic)

The fbi estimates they can use dna evidance to single dowm the possible people to 2 or 3 out of the entiriry of the us

i am not sure what you mean by this sentence, but you probably misunderstood something.

dna doesn't single down anything, as in it would help you track something. it tells you if two genetic profiles are a match (that means they come from same person), or that they are genetically similar and how distant they are - that tells you that the profiles come from x times removed relatives. after that, it is down to normal police work.

here is veritasium video about how they used this technology to find and convict the infamous golden state killer - https://piped.video/watch?v=KT18KJouHWg

I hope you aren't an Ashkenazi Jew.

Holy shit, GATTACA was supposed to be a cautionary tale, not an instruction manual!

Here's the difference, an artist can make more art. You cannot change your DNA. If someone steals some of your art it's not the end of the world. You can make more. If someone has your DNA, you can't change it. Once its out there that's it. More over having someone's DNA can give you significant insight into into just the person whose DNA you have but also their parents and their children.

There’s a big difference between a person’s DNA and a person’s art. DNA is the principle part of someone’s biometric identity, which can be used to reveal an enormous amount of information about a person. Hence it is not unreasonable to expect that its usage will be handled in a careful and clearly defined manner. Most countries have very strict laws on biometric data for a reason.

The same can not be said for a piece of art. While an an artwork will often convey aspects of the artist’s personality, and can conform to an identifiable style, it would provide no where near the level of insight into a persons physical identity as a DNA sample.

It also seems a stretch to conflate sharing something privately and publishing something publicly. The former will have expectations of privacy and control, regardless of whatever is stated any legalese incomprehensible to the average person. The latter however assumes a loss of control, to share something publicly is in some ways to cede it to the public.

It's commonly used by Adoptees to find their biological family. This can be important for a few reasons, including finally getting accurate family health history.

Why would you care who your great great great grandpa was?

I was able to find out that my great grandfather was adopted, and meet a whole new wing of my family. I didn't even do the test, my aunt did.

About 10 years ago they provided medical data from the samples. I used 23 And Me too confirm that a health problem I'd recently been diagnosed with was hereditary. At the time I remember being asked if my sample could be used to aid the type of research the OP talks about and I agreed to it.

A couple of years ago, I think 23 And Me was bought out by Virgin Healthcare, at that point I asked them to destroy all my data was worried about it being used to increase the cost of or preclude health insurance.

I donated my DNA to a research project. I have Crohn's disease and type 1 diabetes. I'm likely autoimmune prone.

I get updates about what it's used for. Usually trying to identify causes for autoimmune diseases. It feels good to help out the people fighting disease.