23andme going bust

[Tessa K]

This is worrying for people who used it from a data protection angle.

Did any of you do it?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gm08nlxr3o

[JQH]

No.

I was always worried about how secure it would be. That much data, and the nature of it, would be a magnet for hackers.

[Tessa K]

No.

I was always worried about how secure it would be. That much data, and the nature of it, would be a magnet for hackers.

I was originally less security minded but read (Adam Rutherford I think) about how unreliable and inaccurate a lot of the findings are. I've done a lot of my own family tree work and don't care if I'm 1% Neanderthal or whatever.

I suspect the original target audience was mostly American as they come from many places.

[bob sterman]

Given the relatively stable nature of DNA - if they want an ongoing business model surely they should get into epigenetics?

Get people to pay to see whether working out in the gym methylated the right genes? Or whether a particularly hard weekend on the booze modified some histones.

[Tessa K]

Given the relatively stable nature of DNA - if they want an ongoing business model surely they should get into epigenetics?

Get people to pay to see whether working out in the gym methylated the right genes? Or whether a particularly hard weekend on the booze modified some histones.

There are companies that purport to tell you what diet to follow, what wine to drink etc etc based on your DNA sample.Again, these are mostly one offs so not a good business model but I guess some companies see it as a quick way to make money while it lasts.

[Woodchopper]

This is worrying for people who used it from a data protection angle.

Did any of you do it?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gm08nlxr3o

Never used it, but know people who have. What bad things could an evil corporation do if they bought the data?

[Martin Y]

I gather that the great majority of people who use these services are indeed Americans. Which makes complete sense with a mostly immigrant population from all over the world that's been there long enough to have lost track of who they're descended from but not so long that they aren't curious.

It kept coming up in chat about the podcast 'Death in Ice Valley' about a still unidentified woman found dead near Bergen in 1970. "Why don't they just submit her DNA to a database?" Was the question asked a thousand times. Two reasons: if she doesn't turn out to have American relatives it's almost certainly a waste of time but more fundamentally Norwegian privacy law meant the police do not have the right to share her DNA info with a public database.

The usual "evil corporation" fear I've seen mentioned is that genetic markers which predispose you to, say, heart disease might make it hard to get a mortgage.

[Tessa K]

I gather that the great majority of people who use these services are indeed Americans. Which makes complete sense with a mostly immigrant population from all over the world that's been there long enough to have lost track of who they're descended from but not so long that they aren't curious.

It kept coming up in chat about the podcast 'Death in Ice Valley' about a still unidentified woman found dead near Bergen in 1970. "Why don't they just submit her DNA to a database?" Was the question asked a thousand times. Two reasons: if she doesn't turn out to have American relatives it's almost certainly a waste of time but more fundamentally Norwegian privacy law meant the police do not have the right to share her DNA info with a public database.

The usual "evil corporation" fear I've seen mentioned is that genetic markers which predispose you to, say, heart disease might make it hard to get a mortgage.

I recently had surgery and they asked if they could use any (anonymised) leftover tissue and blood for research and teaching. I said yes. There is a chance of hacking, I suppose but I couldn't think of a reason not to.

[monkey]

I gather that the great majority of people who use these services are indeed Americans. Which makes complete sense with a mostly immigrant population from all over the world that's been there long enough to have lost track of who they're descended from but not so long that they aren't curious.

It kept coming up in chat about the podcast 'Death in Ice Valley' about a still unidentified woman found dead near Bergen in 1970. "Why don't they just submit her DNA to a database?" Was the question asked a thousand times. Two reasons: if she doesn't turn out to have American relatives it's almost certainly a waste of time but more fundamentally Norwegian privacy law meant the police do not have the right to share her DNA info with a public database.

The usual "evil corporation" fear I've seen mentioned is that genetic markers which predispose you to, say, heart disease might make it hard to get a mortgage.

I recently had surgery and they asked if they could use any (anonymised) leftover tissue and blood for research and teaching. I said yes. There is a chance of hacking, I suppose but I couldn't think of a reason not to.

There's always screws leftover when I fix things too.

[Tessa K]

A DNA company goes bust and the data 'disappears'

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz7wl7rpndjo

[Woodchopper]

A DNA company goes bust and the data 'disappears'

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz7wl7rpndjo

In the Goiânia accident some radioactive caesium contaminated a Brazilian town after a medical device was stolen from an abandoned hospital.

Seems like a bankrupt company might also lead to a data breach. The people who are supposed to be responsible lose their jobs and no one protects the data.