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23andMe confirms hackers stole ancestry data on 6.9M users

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Re: 23andMe confirms hackers stole ancestry data on 6.9M users

#261

Post by mensetmanusman »

cj wrote: post #128
losvedir wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This disaster is the perfect counter-argument to those always saying "why do you care so much about privacy. It doesn't affect you when I share things. You can just choose not to do it" While I agree it's a perfect counter-argument to that, is that what people always say? I'm not sure I've heard that argument as much as "why do you care so much about privacy?" full stop. As in, they don't really understand why anyo…

I think the more common one I've heard is "Why do you care about privacy if you have nothing to hide?" In the case of 23andme, it's a perfect answer: We don't know what's hiding in our DNA and I don't know how people will use that against me in the future.

Well, thankfully with AI, we all know the answer. If a computer learns enough about you, it can steal all of your money from the bank.

Re: 23andMe confirms hackers stole ancestry data on 6.9M users

#262

Post by whyenot »

mikewarot wrote: post #62

I never seriously considered using 23 and me. Not because of hackers, but rather what government would do with that information. I don't want to be responsible for some random relative getting charged with a crime just because I was curious about my family tree.

Thanks to using 23 and Me. I found out that my dad was not actually my biological dad and that I have a half sister and a large extended family that I did not know existed. I'm fully aware of the privacy and PII concerns, but for me it was absolutely worth it, both to better understand who I am and to find a large group of relative who I never knew were there (and who have been incredibly welcoming to me). It's a trade-off.

Re: 23andMe confirms hackers stole ancestry data on 6.9M users

#263

Post by zlg_codes »

gcanyon wrote: post #105

Does anyone think privacy of any real sort is maintainable going forward? Machine learning algorithms are learning to identify people just by their walk -- no face recognition required. Algorithms are moving toward being able to decipher text just by the audio of the keyboard being typed on. In short, given a gestalt of ALL public data and sufficiently advanced algorithms is there really a way for people to maintain…

Yes, it's absolutely possible. What's not possible is the society respecting privacy. As a whole, nobody respects it anymore, some even engage in half-assed devil's advocating about it.

People are easy to mislead and so that's what's been done. In the future, privacy will have to be enforced through jammers and Faraday cages.

None of the gait and keyboard detection attempts work in field conditions.

Re: 23andMe confirms hackers stole ancestry data on 6.9M users

#264

Post by zlg_codes »

kzrdude wrote: post #197
bartwr wrote: post #112

Something super creepy that happened to me recently: a hospital where I've been to a few months ago called me and asked me to participate in some DNA analysis program. They said "oh and the best part? You don't need to do anything! We will use blood samples we collected the last time." I obviously declined, but it was a huge wtf to me - they stored biological samples associated with me without informing me and can do…

Sweden has a registry of blood samples of every person born in sweden since 1975: https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/PKU-registret (Swedish only wiki page) Predictably?, amusingly? police never had access to this data, until a government minister was murdered in 2003, when a sample from the suspect was retrieved. From what we know it has not been used since. So we can be cynical, but under the circumstances, the police us…

Boy, that "yet" reaaaally makes me feel comfortable trusting government with information it can use to kill entire families.

Re: 23andMe confirms hackers stole ancestry data on 6.9M users

#265

Post by zlg_codes »

shatnersbassoon wrote: post #14
mrtksn wrote: post #11

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?

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.

I wouldn't count on any data protections from firms in the United States. There's no responsibility taken by those with the influence to end lives.

Until there's actual punishment for being breached, there will never be data protections in the United States. Even HIPAA and the DMV sell access to businesses.

Re: 23andMe confirms hackers stole ancestry data on 6.9M users

#266

Post by pfdietz »

dylan604 wrote: post #194
pfdietz wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is DNA investigation supposed to be limited to "severe" crimes? It's just another investigative tool. The idea that it should be limited implies there's something sordid about it. Why should I accept that implication? An amusing thing here is that the arguments against DNA were also made against the use of photography, back in the 1800s. At some point people have to realize that personal unease is not an argument…

> At some point people have to realize that personal unease is not an argument. that's not how it works though. if you find enough other people that have the same uneasiness, then you can form groups that get people elected to make rules that forces everyone else to comply with your uneasiness.

It's not an argument that anyone else is obligated to treat at all seriously.

You're uneasy? Boo frickin hoo.

Re: 23andMe confirms hackers stole ancestry data on 6.9M users

#267

Post by quantified »

losvedir wrote: post #75
skummetmaelk wrote: post #6

This disaster is the perfect counter-argument to those always saying "why do you care so much about privacy. It doesn't affect you when I share things. You can just choose not to do it", except no, I can't choose when we're relatives and you chose to share our genome. It is so obvious that your relatives sharing their genomic data with 23andMe reveals a lot of information about you. We can only hope people will reali…

> This disaster is the perfect counter-argument to those always saying "why do you care so much about privacy. It doesn't affect you when I share things. You can just choose not to do it" While I agree it's a perfect counter-argument to that, is that what people always say? I'm not sure I've heard that argument as much as "why do you care so much about privacy?" full stop. As in, they don't really understand why anyo…

"People always saying" means two different things to you and the parent commenter. Some people do always (or generally) say that. Other people do not always say it.

Re: 23andMe confirms hackers stole ancestry data on 6.9M users

#268

Post by quantified »

briandear wrote: post #230
pbhjpbhj wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, the reason for privacy is because the profit motive of capitalism is not sufficiently restrained as to protect citizens from being abused by corporations?

Governements abuse people more than an economic system ever has. A corporation has never marched people to camps, nor have corporations ever imprisoned anyone for their politics. If I don’t want to deal with a corporation, I have the right not to — unless government forces me to.

Corporations have pushed wars and has people shot and beaten for their politics.

And to you I guess a cotton or sugar plantation was not a capitalist enterprise?

Re: 23andMe confirms hackers stole ancestry data on 6.9M users

#270

Post by y-c-o-m-b »

taurath wrote: post #29

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…

Just got an email update from them. It sounds like you can opt out of the new terms. Not sure what the consequences will be.

> We encourage you to read the new terms in full. Please notify us within 30 days of receiving this email if you do not agree to the terms, in which case you will remain subject to the current Terms of Service. If you do not notify us within 30 days, you will be deemed to have agreed to the new terms.

Notification email: legal@23andme.com

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