Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

buzzfeednews.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

211–220 of 424 posts

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

#211

Post by dvfjsdhgfv »

kmonsen wrote: post #193
riffraff wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe the "if you live a good life you go to heaven" is a common tenet of many Christian denominations since the Vatican Council. At least, I recall my religion teacher (a catholic priest, we have such a class in public schools in Italy tho they vary in content and quality) telling us that some decades ago. You do not go to heaven if you're an atheist tho, as _denying_ there is something divine puts you in the ba…

I mean does it really matter what the church says? The important part is what God actually thinks here and that seems to be very different depending on who you ask.

To be more precise, what matters is not so much what God/gods "think", but what they want us to do. In this case, the textual foundation for Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus is Mark 16:16: "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned." Assuming these really are the words of Jesus, they leave very little for interpretation, no matter what Vaticanum II says.

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

#212

Post by dvfjsdhgfv »

Trasmatta wrote: post #168
js2 wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m a Jewish atheist and the first time a couple Mormons knocked on my door and explained proxy baptism to me my first reaction was to be taken aback. But hey, may as well cover all my bases right?

It sort of addresses a fundamental issue with a lot of Christian religions that teach that people who never had a chance to hear about Jesus and be baptized automatically go to hell. There's a lot I dislike about the Mormon church and its doctrine, but the Mormon conception of the afterlife is quite a bit more fair than a lot of other religions. Note: in Mormon theology, those that die and receive their baptism by pr…

> It sort of addresses a fundamental issue with a lot of Christian religions that teach that people who never had a chance to hear about Jesus and be baptized automatically go to hell.

This always struck me as one of the most stupid and illogical tenets as it's in opposition to the concept of loving and just God: why create millions of people who have no chance to meet the Gospel, and then automatically condemn them to suffer forever, just like that, for nothing? It really makes no any sense! And yet, the modern world lives on remnants of these ideas.

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

#214

Post by menybuvico »

mdocherty wrote: post #160
tzs wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That leads to my afterlife nightmare scenario. I die bravely in glorious battle and am chosen by the Valkyries for Valhalla. One evening as we feast after that day's fighting, quaffing giant tankards of mead and boasting of our deeds, there comes a knock at the door. Two young men in suits enter, and go to speak to Odin. Odin then call for me to come over. He tells me that the young men are Mormons, and that some dis…

Valhalla is only good if you keep winning the afterlife wars!

Valhalla is nothing but a training ground for the forces of Odin. Once Ragnarök happens, they will die a final death fighting the forces of evil.

If you want eternal life, you want to go to Fólkvangr.

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

#215

Post by Traster »

zeepzeep wrote: post #213

I waited for this. Sorry to all that are affected, but maybe this is a sign for others, not to give their DNA to a random company.

And also not to be related to someone who gave their DNA to a random company.

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

#216

Post by aasasd »

aahhahahaaa wrote: post #25

So they sent an email to their users that states: >We can assure you that your DNA information was not compromised, as GEDmatch does not store raw DNA files on the site. When you upload your data, the information is encoded, and the raw file deleted. This is one of the ways we protect our users’ most sensitive information. This is kind of BS right? It's encoded... not encrypted.

I would hope that it means, “some data is extracted to a format that can be used for particular operations that the service is doing, but not others that are possible with the full DNA”. Sort of an index.

Of course, it would still mean stolen data could be used for the same operations (and some others) if someone figures out the encoding, or data can be copy-pasted where it doesn't belong.

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

#217

Post by MattGaiser »

andrewem wrote: post #158
MattGaiser wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I may be one of the people who lost DNA in this breach. I am not currently worried about anything, but I also know that I don’t know everything DNA can be used for. My greatest concern consists of things some smart crook might think of doing. While a reputable company might not use the DNA for fear of getting sued, they might use a crappy contractor who does not care. Banks care about information security and take it…

This is a side note about your example, but you say "Banks care about information security and take it seriously. They use a crappy contractor called Equifax which doesn’t." If banks send important information to a contractor which they're unable to verify takes information security seriously, then it's hard to see how the banks can be said to be taking it seriously.

They take it seriously until the liability shield of contracts and separate corporate entities takes over.

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

#218

Post by int_19h »

tzs wrote: post #151
js2 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> One of the core tenets of Mormon faith is that the dead can be baptized into the faith after their passing. Baptism of the dead evolved from the beliefs that baptism is necessary for salvation and that the family unit can continue to exist together beyond mortal life if all members are baptized. > Mormons trace their family trees to find the names of ancestors who died without learning about the restored Mormon Gos…

That leads to my afterlife nightmare scenario. I die bravely in glorious battle and am chosen by the Valkyries for Valhalla. One evening as we feast after that day's fighting, quaffing giant tankards of mead and boasting of our deeds, there comes a knock at the door. Two young men in suits enter, and go to speak to Odin. Odin then call for me to come over. He tells me that the young men are Mormons, and that some dis…

Mormon baptism for the dead is conditional - it doesn't automatically convert them, but rather the dead person gets a choice to accept that baptism or not.

But then again, while in Mormon theology the spirits are immediately sorted into paradise and "spirit prison" upon death, they can apparently communicate across the boundary between the two; and those in paradise can thus evangelize to those in prison, until they convert. So by the time they get their proxy baptism, they would presumably be convinced of its necessity.

(Although I never understood why that would even be necessary, given that by that time they already know, and thus don't have to believe...)

And yeah, Mormon theology is not what you'd expect from a religion that's so rigidly socially conservative. Between near-universal salvation and extreme Arminianism, it's really one of the most liberal among Christian denominations.

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

#219

Post by raxxorrax »

zeepzeep wrote: post #213

I waited for this. Sorry to all that are affected, but maybe this is a sign for others, not to give their DNA to a random company.

Yeah, just like people stopped using their real identities on the net where there is absolutely nobody with an axe to grind for trivial issues.

Sorry for the cynicism. What is even worse, people actually using these services create expectations towards everyone smart enough not to do that. Of course, that would mean your near relatives have to be smart enough not to use these services either...

Now any health insurer could use this data to identify high risk genetic defects...

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

#220

Post by int_19h »

Trasmatta wrote: post #113
SomewhatLikely wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not just baptize every human then?

That's what they're trying to do. In Mormon theology everyone who dies without a chance to be baptized must be given a proxy baptism by someone living, so they have a chance to accept the gospel in the afterlife. The goal is that this will eventually happen for everyone who ever lived. (Source: former Mormon.)

Why does it require genealogical research, though? Can proxy baptism only be performed by living relatives? And if not, then wouldn't just knowing the name of the person suffice? Or, for that matter, wouldn't any way to unambiguously identify them?
Post reply on HN