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Breach exposed more than one million DNA profiles on a major genealogy database

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Re: Breach exposed more than one million DNA profiles on a major genealogy database

#131

Post by throwawaythekey »

bergstromm466 wrote: post #80
HenryKissinger wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The federal government could maintain a central database containing the DNA of every citizen. Submitting a sample might be incentivized by barring people from, say, receiving social security, disability, government backed mortgages and student loans, food stamps, tax refunds, and other federal benefits if someone doesn't comply. The National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control, the Central Intellige…

Why would DNA have anything to do with crime?

I am not an expect, but it seems like DNA is responsible for around 50% of the personality variance between individuals. Note that the variance within groups is an order of magnitude bigger than the variance across groups, so there aren't super strong ties to race.

I would imagine personality and/or propensity to mental illness or addiction are decent predictors of likelihood to commit crime.

See this podcast for an actual experts take https://samharris.org/podcasts/211-the-nature-of-human-natur...

Re: Breach exposed more than one million DNA profiles on a major genealogy database

#132

Post by dave5104 »

mirimir wrote: post #126
pickledcods wrote: post #115

This is the same level as having a breach of biometric data. With password/payment/location breaches you have the ability to change what you entered as to invalidate/outdate the data which was stored. Having your biometric/genome authentication data stolen or made public will be a nightmare.

No, not really. There's no practical way to protect our genomes in meatspace. We're constantly shedding DNA into the environment. Hair, skin, saliva, etc. For example, an adversary can just tail us to a coffee shop or restaurant, and take a utensil or straw or napkin that we've used. And then submit the sample using a fake name, as investigators often do. Edit: Those are excellent comments about scale. But generally,…

That's a lot more work, and requires far more dedication and resources, than just picking up the data from a dump on the black market.

Re: Breach exposed more than one million DNA profiles on a major genealogy database

#133

Post by clusterfish »

mirimir wrote: post #126
pickledcods wrote: post #115

This is the same level as having a breach of biometric data. With password/payment/location breaches you have the ability to change what you entered as to invalidate/outdate the data which was stored. Having your biometric/genome authentication data stolen or made public will be a nightmare.

No, not really. There's no practical way to protect our genomes in meatspace. We're constantly shedding DNA into the environment. Hair, skin, saliva, etc. For example, an adversary can just tail us to a coffee shop or restaurant, and take a utensil or straw or napkin that we've used. And then submit the sample using a fake name, as investigators often do. Edit: Those are excellent comments about scale. But generally,…

But you can't do that to a million people, only to individual targets. Economic scale matters in a lot of evil plots.

Re: Breach exposed more than one million DNA profiles on a major genealogy database

#134

Post by oh_sigh »

clusterfish wrote: post #133
mirimir wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, not really. There's no practical way to protect our genomes in meatspace. We're constantly shedding DNA into the environment. Hair, skin, saliva, etc. For example, an adversary can just tail us to a coffee shop or restaurant, and take a utensil or straw or napkin that we've used. And then submit the sample using a fake name, as investigators often do. Edit: Those are excellent comments about scale. But generally,…

But you can't do that to a million people, only to individual targets. Economic scale matters in a lot of evil plots.

What could you do to a million or a billion people that would make life a nightmare for them if their biometric data was stolen en masse?

Re: Breach exposed more than one million DNA profiles on a major genealogy database

#135

Post by andrewxhonson »

hangonhn wrote: post #17
markdown wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought myheritage was owned by the Mormons.

Just out of curiosity, is there a reason for Mormons to especially care about their genealogy?

In addition to (and in conjunction with) the other comment about baptism for the dead, it is believed to be a fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy of pointing "the hearts of the children to their fathers" before the end of the world. Only names and some important life event dates are required for baptisms, but there is also an emphasis on learning much more about them if possible.

Re: Breach exposed more than one million DNA profiles on a major genealogy database

#136

Post by tzs »

tossmeout wrote: post #13

There should be fines big enough to bankrupt the companies who fail to secure data this kind of data. Is there some other way to convince them to take the issue more seriously?

> There should be fines big enough to bankrupt the companies who fail to secure data this kind of data

...and then when their assets are broken up and sold off in bankruptcy, your sensitive data ends up scattered to random companies you never heard of.

Re: Breach exposed more than one million DNA profiles on a major genealogy database

#137

Post by bkanber »

oh_sigh wrote: post #134
clusterfish wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But you can't do that to a million people, only to individual targets. Economic scale matters in a lot of evil plots.

What could you do to a million or a billion people that would make life a nightmare for them if their biometric data was stolen en masse?

My concern is not what can be done today, but rather in 15 years.

Re: Breach exposed more than one million DNA profiles on a major genealogy database

#138

Post by [deleted] »

bkanber wrote: post #137
oh_sigh wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What could you do to a million or a billion people that would make life a nightmare for them if their biometric data was stolen en masse?

My concern is not what can be done today , but rather in 15 years.

[deleted]

Re: Breach exposed more than one million DNA profiles on a major genealogy database

#139

Post by austhrow743 »

all_blue_chucks wrote: post #91
austhrow743 wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Getting placed at the scene of a crime applies to everyone. Remember that once you do it, it’s out there forever. So you can’t just rely on “I haven’t and won’t break any laws that exist in my country right now”. Having certain characteristics that show up in your test could be illegal in 20 years time. You don’t know.

That's an interesting point, but if your government becomes blatantly oppressive they don't need DNA to do it.

No but the DNA database helps them track you down.

Re: Breach exposed more than one million DNA profiles on a major genealogy database

#140

Post by staticautomatic »

KMag wrote: post #18
site-packages1 wrote: post #2

For those who are annoyed about the name of the site not being in the title: GEDMatch was phised a few days ago, then yesterday phishing led to the data exfiltration from the Israeli DNA site MyHeritage. https://www.myheritage.com/

What does the GED stand for? Genetic ??? Database? To someone who grew up in the U.S., GEDmatch sounds like a dating site for people who took a test in lue of completing secondary education.

I upvoted you and FYI the word you’re looking for is “lieu”.
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