Your DNA Could Be Up For Auction
Data privacy is about more than just your digital profile
I’m not saying we’re at the point of no return, but the recent news about the U.S. government using DNA tests to reunite migrant children with their families seems eerily like a flashback scene in a dystopian future narrative.
First the government asks for DNA samples, next they decide who gets healthcare and finally, the government decides who lives and who dies.
I’m being facetious. Sort of.
Here’s the thing…
There’s literally no argument against wanting to reunite migrant children with their families as quickly as humanly possible. In fact, pragmatically speaking, using DNA makes perfect sense. Everyone has it, it’s unique to each family and it can quickly be uploaded and organized using computer power. For these reasons, I’m conflicted about my position. I wish I could believe that the government or any private conglomerate considered what’s best for its citizens and its customers. I don’t. So instead I think that entrusting anyone with your DNA samples strikes me as one of those flashbacks I mentioned above where the audience is thinking, “how could you not see what’s right in front of you?”
My concern is that the information extracted from DNA tests could be used to deny access to services in the future. Just a few months ago, DNA testing service MyHeritage revealed that hackers had breached 92 million of its users accounts. Sure, they were only able to gain access to passwords and encrypted usernames but as these services become more popular, more hacks will surely follow. And when hackers finally do get the genetic data they’re needling for, your DNA information AKA you’re actual physical being, not just your digital profile is left vulnerable.
More specifically, according to Giovanni Vigna, a CS professor at UC Santa Barbara, the data could potentially be sold to insurances companies. “You can imagine the consequences: One day, I might apply for a long-term loan and get rejected because deep in the corporate system, there is data that I am very likely to get Alzheimer’s and die before I would repay the loan,” Vigna told The Verge.
But that’s only part of the problem…
Last year it was revealed that 23andME, another genomics company, sold the genetic data collected from its more than 2 million customers to a pharmaceutical company to be used to find a cure for Parkinson’s. Again, in theory finding a cure for such a terrible disease is a benevolent endeavor but using people’s DNA without them realizing it or burying the part where you ask for their consent in a terms of service agreement that very few people read is subterfuge. Especially when you consider how powerful and disingenuous pharmaceutical companies have already proven themselves to be.
So I’ll say it again, reuniting migrant children with their families is of paramount importance. But doing so using DNA testing, especially without a child’s consent opens up a can of data-privacy worms — remedying one human rights issue by violating a different civil rights issue.
Sure in this case, we’re talking about minors with little to no knowledge of when and how they’re being taken advantage of, but is that so different from the current data privacy issue that affects the rest of us? Aren’t we all uninformed to different degrees about what’s happening with our data? Did any one of us give our consent to company’s like Facebook to use our data in their effort to reach their bottom line?
All I’m saying is that up until now, our shared ignorance and lack of understanding has been weaponized against us, but it’s never too late to start asking questions. Even if the answers may scare us.
