The importance of thinking about what happens to your data, in terms of what it is used for (and whether you are comfortable with companies patenting your genetic material and potentially profiting from it) and also how secure the genetic data is from theft, needs to be considered. These concerns are voiced by Jason Koebler, who writes on science and technology topics for Motherboard.
Ethical use
There are various reasons why companies are interested in your DNA, and some of these companies are more transparent as to why they are seeking it (for medical research), whereas others may also offer services for people to trace their ancestry, or assessing DNA to assist people with their personal fitness targets or training goals. Other ideas are smartphone DNA testing kits. Fun, perhaps, but the app developer will keep a slice of the data. If the data is sold to a pharmaceutical company to develop a personalized medicine, the user has no right to their genetic information.
Security concerns
Going forwards, there are also likely to be new technological innovations, such as the use of DNA to store vast quantities of digitized data. The advantage is that such data storage solutions would be retrievable thousands of years later (see “Major tech companies see DNA storage as the future“).
Privacy issues
Other uses extend into what Koebler sees as invasive and which have an air of dystopia around them. He notes that a company called “PooPrints” has begun sequencing the DNA from dog feces in order to identify the dog (and the owner). The aim is to track down careless dog owners who allow their animals to defecate in inappropriate areas, breaching local bylaws.
Similar concerns have been expressed by Digital Journal’s Paul Wallis, who points out that many companies collecting genetic information are operating outside of the normal professional medical framework, which raises the issue of medical ethics. He notes that some of these companies will offer forms of counselling should the potential for a hitherto unrealized inherited condition bet noted, but how qualified are those offering this service. Wallis also makes similar privacy concern points as those raised by Koebler.
Also on ethics, a project, in China attempted to analyze the DNA of high-IQ individuals to identify genetic variants related to intelligence. There’s a risk such activities open up the (discredited) eugenics debate.
Hacking risks
Koebler’s main privacy concerns relate to open source databases. he notes that law enforcement agencies have begun scanning such databases in the course of criminal investigations. Justified? Perhaps. But what about a private investigator? Or a divorce law tram? As with other areas of liberal ethics, a line needs to be established. In addition, open-source databases are, like any other technological system, open to hacking. Here, if someone gained access to your DNA they start to have a stronger means of stealing your identify.
