Privacy concerns would be fairly easy to work around. Just fill in your name “Barack Hussein Obama” and send it in.
This is an utter contentless article.
Anybody who freely gives away the rights to their DNA info is simply too stupid for words.
Tell her ‘don’t have a cow’
I remember the first time I gave my DNA away.
Her name was Sophie.
It cost me a beer.
The last time I was in my Dr. had his assistant take a DNA swab from inside my cheeks.
I assume to check for any possible genetic defects.
I will not see him again until July unless I get sick.
So this agreement means you sign over the rights to your own DNA? How much does Ancestry own of your children’s DNA? Can they sell it to some biotech company? I’ve never felt comfortable about these tests. You don’t know what time, technology and the law will become. At some point they may just want to take it from us no matter what.
What stops you from using an alias to purchase the test?
No telling what kind of data base these people sell/give your info to...
You’d have to be nuts to do this.
Contract aside, have you given up your right to privacy of such a thing Edenexists anymore, by placing your DNA with a third party?
Concerns it brings up:
* Surprise relatives showing up when you just wanted information for yourself. One kid already found relatives of his sperm donor this way.
* You test positive for a genetic disorder. It is in the genetic test info they find. Your relatives may not want to know the risk, but through the site, it may become public information.
* You could unwittingly become part of a medical study without your consent, and that could affect your descendant.
Example: Your family loses someone to a disorder. The genetic information to test for risk factors to find that exact trait is your decision in a medical study. (I participated in one).
I made that choice to be tested and give detailed medical information, with the condition for privacy. I did NOT authorize for their to be a risk to my children, siblings and other relatives to have that information associated with them because it could be used against them whether by insurers or if eugenics comes roaring back.
* As new genetic defects are identified, the DNA tests could be used to locate people to notify of traits they carry but don’t necessarily impact quality of life now or even in the future.
Example: there is a genetic locus associated with an increased risk of biopolar disorder, depression, schizophrenia and high levels of creativity. If massive database screening identifies those with that locus, do you end up penalizing people, like children, who carry the trait but may not become mentally ill?
I’d always heard the ancestory sites were the Mormon’s gathering data to posthumously baptize people when they pass.
Without too much hassle, such material could then—theoretically—be introduced into a crime scene.
Ultimately, when you give a corporation (or the State) your DNA, you're giving them the power to frame you...
I once got an ancestry.com DNA kit from my brother. I sent in My DNA, but I used a fake alias.
Even if these companies where to resell this information to insurance companies, that would be no way the insurance company could verify who the DNA belongs to.
As folks discovered in the first Radio Shack bankruptcy, the company’s pledges to its customers are worthless when there is a valuable asset that can be sold.
I know dam well there are buyers on the market that are keenly interested in DNA types, to building a database that can be sold or to be used by research groups.
Reminds me of a techno thriller novel where everyone on earth or most of them were eventually catalogued and a virus was sent out that made sterile anyone that wasn’t blye eyed and blonde.
Or...imagine this, you have a certain ancestry thats wanted say as an organ donor to some billionaire, they find you and next thing you know you are getting harvested. Or eliminated because you might be a threat to any certain group.
A wise human once said something along the line of “..fools and their money are easily parted..”
Every time I see the TV ad for this, I think I should get the kit, and swab a dog’s mouth, send it in, and see what response I get.
Due to the concerns mentioned in this article, my DNA, mtDNA, was done and is handled by a company in Canada called “Genebase” and I have been nothing except pleased by what they have provided and how they have done it. I do have to say that surprises did occur like finding out my mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) Subclade H24a1, indicates my female line is Ashkenazi Jew. Furthermore, when one of my brother’s had the paternal line done, our line that way is Jewish also, J1c3(p58+). My other brother was not happy. On the other hand, I am delighted to know it.
I wouldn’t trust Ancestry DNA, as Ancestry tends to sell info.
Check out familytreedna.com instead.
I sent my cheek swab there for the basic test about 10 years ago. After seeing the results, I opted for a more advanced test and it revealed even more information that led me to distant cousins and ancestors I wasn’t aware of previously.