This was just waiting to happen tbh
this post was submitted on 24 Mar 2025
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Privacy
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I’ve been telling people since this dna testing started that sooner or later that data will be for sale, an insurance company will buy it, and then get used against people to increase their health insurance rates or deny claims.
But I’m a crazy conspiracy theorist according to everyone ;)
Same reason I don’t want to buy a new car anymore…
Same reason I don’t want to buy a new car anymore…
Because of the "driving behavior" data that gets sent out via secret cell connections and bought by insurance companies?
Yup. Go ahead and try turning that cell phone radio thing off. Why do you need an app for remote start? Why can’t it be on the keyfob anymore? But again, nothing to see here - just the continued enshittification of everything.
What! What cars have this???
Yes, unfortunately. I dunno if it's a global thing or just in the US, but several years ago, they started sending your car's computer data to insurance companies, who then use it to determine how well you drive and what insurance rates they want to give you.
It's really scummy.
Even if a relative has shared their DNA, it can be used to make some fairly safe assumptions about yours.
My car's computer doesn't transmit. It doesn't log anything more than engine fault codes. That's how I like it.
Find me a car produced in 2024 or later which does this
This is the perfect example of why privacy matters. No matter how much you trust a parent company one day when the investors come knocking they are legally obligated to liquidate all assets to the highest bidder. Today its 23andme tomorrow it could be discord, google, amazon, Facebook or any other tech company.
In case people only saw the headline....
The sale is because a breach already happened: "hackers obtained personal data of about seven million of its customers in October 2023".
They cannot afford the lawsuits.
Hmm.
One of the notable issues is that this process also won’t delete all of your data — according to 23andMe’s privacy disclosure, your genetic information, date of birth, and sex will be retained for an undisclosed amount of time to comply with the company’s legal obligations,
I knew the whole idea of letting a company get your genetic fingerprint was a bad idea from the start. Being curious about my ancestry wasn't worth it.
That’s great but all it takes is some of your blood relatives to submit their genetic data and they can calculate your genetics to a degree that is accurate enough.
So... Orgies for privacy? :D