5 ms·

This is precisely why, though I find it to be a fascinating idea, I have steadfastly refused to do one of these genetic tests.

libraryatnight 3y ago
I remember a Simpsons joke where Homer finds out the government has everyone's DNA on file and asks about it and they say "Yep everyone who's touched a penny since 1932" or something. Turns out it didn't need to be that elaborate, you could just ask folks to mail it in ;)
- teagoat 3y ago
  you could just ask folks to mail it in (and pay for the privilege)
MerelyMortal 3y ago
Not only that, you have to make sure all of your extended family members don't take the test too.
- stjohnswarts 3y ago
  that's impossible. All you can do is talk to them and tell them it's a bad idea. The data will exist from now until the end of the current human age. Everyone wants it, 23 and me may be decent custodians, but eventually it will end up in the hands of every government, corporation, and entity interested in getting DNA information through breaches and some eventual buyer of the company selling it.
jdthedisciple 3y ago
Yeap, same here. Don't think I'll ever try any of them.
4rt 3y ago
Couldn't you just do it but with a fake name?
- TedDoesntTalk 3y ago
  That is exactly what I did. And I got a temporary mailbox at the local UPS Store so they could not get my real address. And signup on their website was with a new email address. It’s a pain but it was worth it for me. Of course, I opted out of the DNA Relatives feature.
  - stjohnswarts 3y ago
    They can pretty easily connect it to you via family members, hopefully your family avoids it.
- csomar 3y ago
  My sister didn't have an account when we sent the packages. When the data got analyzed it showed it as "My Sister" with close to 100% accuracy. The packages were anon, so they couldn't know which sent which.
Bluecobra 3y ago
Same here, I wish there were some regulations in place to safeguard this data. It seems like the cat is out of the bag though: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/science/dna-ancestry-searches-can-now-identify-most-white-americans-heres-why-thats-legally-questionable https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/science/dna-ancestry-search...

libraryatnight 3y ago

I remember a Simpsons joke where Homer finds out the government has everyone's DNA on file and asks about it and they say "Yep everyone who's touched a penny since 1932" or something. Turns out it didn't need to be that elaborate, you could just ask folks to mail it in ;)

teagoat 3y ago
you could just ask folks to mail it in (and pay for the privilege)

MerelyMortal 3y ago

Not only that, you have to make sure all of your extended family members don't take the test too.

stjohnswarts 3y ago
that's impossible. All you can do is talk to them and tell them it's a bad idea. The data will exist from now until the end of the current human age. Everyone wants it, 23 and me may be decent custodians, but eventually it will end up in the hands of every government, corporation, and entity interested in getting DNA information through breaches and some eventual buyer of the company selling it.

jdthedisciple 3y ago

Yeap, same here. Don't think I'll ever try any of them.

4rt 3y ago

Couldn't you just do it but with a fake name?

TedDoesntTalk 3y ago
That is exactly what I did. And I got a temporary mailbox at the local UPS Store so they could not get my real address. And signup on their website was with a new email address. It’s a pain but it was worth it for me. Of course, I opted out of the DNA Relatives feature.
- stjohnswarts 3y ago
  They can pretty easily connect it to you via family members, hopefully your family avoids it.
csomar 3y ago
My sister didn't have an account when we sent the packages. When the data got analyzed it showed it as "My Sister" with close to 100% accuracy. The packages were anon, so they couldn't know which sent which.

Bluecobra 3y ago

Same here, I wish there were some regulations in place to safeguard this data. It seems like the cat is out of the bag though: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/science/dna-ancestry-searches-can-now-identify-most-white-americans-heres-why-thats-legally-questionable https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/science/dna-ancestry-search...