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If anyone who used the service, do you know if you can use it anonymously? I wanted to try it but I was afraid of exactly this. How feasible it is to use a payment and an address that doesn't directly connect you to your samples?
Find a private lab to do the test. It may be a bit more involved, and cost more money, but not by that much.
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Given the nature of the service, you should probably treat it as inherently pseudonymous. You're handing over irrevocable genetic data which will link you to relatives. Whatever their data protection assurances are, you have to imagine the worst case scenario - massive data leakage. And if this happens then you will in all likelihood be identifiable.
Obviously I don't trust any assurances, but on the other hand I'm handing over my genetic data all the time because parts of me end up over in the hands of 3rd parties whenever I go outside but they just happen not to run test on those. If I can have a test that is not connected to my persona, from their perspective the data would be as valuable as running a test on the hair in the barbershop or picking a random left…
It does feel at this point that any company collecting data will be hacked, it's only a matter of "when" and no "if"...
How much does that have to do with their TOS update which went out on thanksgiving DAY (the most perfect time to get lost in everyone’s inboxes). The TOS update somehow tries to forbid class actions, requires you to go through an “informal” 60 day process before any legal action, and forces you into binding arbitration. Functionally you as a customer have next to no legal rights, according to 23andMe lawyers who cook…
Does this hold up in court? At least in Germany any contracts that are heavily in favor of one side will be declared void if it comes to court.
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Yeah it's sort of like using Tor to log in to Facebook and expecting Facebook not to know who you are because your IP is obscured.
More like using Tor to create a FB account with made up information and expecting FB not know who you are because your IP is obscured and you use fresh browser profile. In your DNA doesn't tell your identity, there's DNA everywhere and it's not something hard to come by. The analysis is only valuable if can be connected to a persona, otherwise its just chemical reaction.
Something does not add up. "23andMe said the data breach was caused by customers reusing passwords" Yet 14,000 accounts were breached in one go? Where did these passwords come from? Maybe there was another related breach (something like lastpass can explain this)? Also, using the "DNA Relatives" features the hackers were able to access personal information relating to 6.9 million individuals. That means each one of t…
For example, any website that allows users to choose normal, easy to remember passwords should meet a long list of requirements: For example security audits, bug bounties, capital reserves to deal with class action suits.
Then small websites will start either implement Open ID or encourage their users to use password manages.
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I can think of an easy model. Disallow collection of personal information. Pull the rug out from under "services" which are really just data collection fronts turning a profit from selling your data instead of the primary service/good for money transaction. 23andMe could still have operated legally under this scheme. They could have done the analysis and sent you a printed sheet. But no, they had to store everything…
What about people who would want to donate their data to further the research?
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More like using Tor to create a FB account with made up information and expecting FB not know who you are because your IP is obscured and you use fresh browser profile. In your DNA doesn't tell your identity, there's DNA everywhere and it's not something hard to come by. The analysis is only valuable if can be connected to a persona, otherwise its just chemical reaction.
No, your analogy makes no sense. A fake facebook account is not identifying information. DNA is. They can figure out who you are based on the DNA alone, if they have enough data from your relatives.
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Obviously I don't trust any assurances, but on the other hand I'm handing over my genetic data all the time because parts of me end up over in the hands of 3rd parties whenever I go outside but they just happen not to run test on those. If I can have a test that is not connected to my persona, from their perspective the data would be as valuable as running a test on the hair in the barbershop or picking a random left…
There's quite a big difference between the DNA you leave in a forensic sense all around you (which would take a lot of effort and expense for someone to gather against your will) versus serving it up on a plate in a format that is trivially searchable for close matches against any relatives. The value is in the fact that millions of people's DNA is gathered in the same place in the same format, not the individual val…