Comment · Wed, March 18, 2015 · Ceretropic
Any concern about revealing personal info to genetic testing services?
Original post in this thread
Maxwell_V · 17 points
This came to mind when reading a couple threads about 23andme recently. Correlation of genetic profile with personal identity seems like a legitimate cause for some paranoia, but perhaps there are safeguards in place (?) Does everyone give accurate personal info when submitting those tests? Not doing so would presumably violate some terms or guidelines, but I'm not sure what the consequences would be.
What they were answering
LonghornWelch · 1 points
My biggest concern at the moment is that google is going to use 23andme genetic data to develop drugs, meaning you are paying google for them to develop products worth billions/trillions of dollars. Doesn't sound very fair, does it?
Further, considering google's entire business is about data mining and selling/using that data, your genetic data will inevitably be seen by others. Whether there is personal identifying info connected to that data, I don't know, but it's possible. Further, we may not be able to say too much about a person from their genetic data now, but in the future we will be able to say a WHOLE lot.
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb · Ceretropic
Progress needs data. You are paying for the genetic information they provide, and can opt out of the data collection if you choose. People are going to profit off things. That is just a fact of life. I would rather advance our knowledge, and accept that some might profit more than others from it, over stifling knowledge to try and create a sense of fairness. As long as people are clearly made aware of the program, and given the choice to opt in or out, I think it is a step in the right direction. Imagine the wealth of information we could get out of a clear cross section of the populations genetics! If we all remained private, never shared information with each other, and were always looking to profit from every interaction, imagine how shitty of a world we would be living in.