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23andMe Is Monetizing Your DNA the Way Facebook Monetizes 'Likes'

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Re: 23andMe Is Monetizing Your DNA the Way Facebook Monetizes 'Likes'

#131

Post by goodplay »

kalefranz wrote: post #127
pavel_lishin wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Have you ever entered your phone number or member number at a business for a discount? But I can choose not to. "May I have your email for our records?" "Thanks for asking, but you may not." > Personal liberty is important, but it doesn't trump all considerations. If we can actually utilize the information to help research new treatments and further our knowledge of the human body, allowing the collection, and care…

> If I'm giving them my DNA, I want to know exactly how it can be used, how it will be anonymized, to whom they can sell it, whether I can opt out at some point, etc. ... one reason I haven't sent a DNA sample to 23andMe, etc., is because I can't control what happens to my data after that point, and I'm not even sure if I can find out. https://www.23andme.com/privacy/#drawer-researchparticipatio... Customers can opt…

Do you destroy this information once the owner has chosen to opt out?

The reason I, and I suspect many others, avoid these types of services is the risk of this information being inherited or possessed by an entity that would use this information in ways to which I do would not consent nor approve. This information would not only affect me personally, but also my children.

Germans are more privacy-aware than most for a good reason. I dread a future where an evil government gets a hold of this data and the technology to effectively use it.

Re: 23andMe Is Monetizing Your DNA the Way Facebook Monetizes 'Likes'

#132

Post by tamana »

moultano wrote: post #109
discardorama wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could say the same about, for example, the NSA wiretapping your calls and listening in on them. Until you get caught in some bizarre situation as a result, you'll be happily oblivious. But your rights are still being violated. That data (your profile) is yours, and yours alone. No one has the right to package it and sell it without your consent. Now, it is possible that you may feel gregarious and offer up your d…

The amount of harm that a government can do to you is virtually unlimited. The amount of harm most companies can do to you is very small and effectively restricted by the law, even in the very unlikely event that they have some incentive to harm their customers.

The insurance industry's entire profit model is based on harming their customers -- underpaying claims

Re: 23andMe Is Monetizing Your DNA the Way Facebook Monetizes 'Likes'

#133

Post by blacksmith_tb »

tamana wrote: post #132
moultano wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The amount of harm that a government can do to you is virtually unlimited. The amount of harm most companies can do to you is very small and effectively restricted by the law, even in the very unlikely event that they have some incentive to harm their customers.

The insurance industry's entire profit model is based on harming their customers -- underpaying claims

My impression was their profit model was collecting premiums from a very large number of customers, while only paying out a relatively small number of claims.

Re: 23andMe Is Monetizing Your DNA the Way Facebook Monetizes 'Likes'

#134

Post by ams6110 »

eli wrote: post #102
unimpressive wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you get mysteriously denied a job, insurance, etc, you won't necessarily know. In fact, since you give out so much data about yourself so often, it's likely impossible for you to know who sold you out exactly or that you were sold out at all.

(As an aside, it is already illegal in the US to deny someone a job or insurance because of their DNA)

It's not illegal to deny life insurance, AFAIK. And in many cases that's more important than health insurance.

If I'm stricken with a terminal illness, health insurance won't do much for me. Life insurance could mean the difference between my family being OK or really struggling.

Re: 23andMe Is Monetizing Your DNA the Way Facebook Monetizes 'Likes'

#135

Post by colejohnson66 »

blacksmith_tb wrote: post #133
tamana wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The insurance industry's entire profit model is based on harming their customers -- underpaying claims

My impression was their profit model was collecting premiums from a very large number of customers, while only paying out a relatively small number of claims.

Adding to this comment, that's exactly why your rates go up when you get in an accident. Your "trustworthiness" has gone down and the insurance company might have to spend more on you in the long run.

Re: 23andMe Is Monetizing Your DNA the Way Facebook Monetizes 'Likes'

#136

Post by jomamaxx »

JulianMorrison wrote: post #114

It's ridiculous to be stingy with your DNA information. You're dropping that stuff all over any sofa you sit on. It's not you (any more than your twin is you) and it's not yours in any proprietorial sense, it's just data. Chill and let the nice scientists study it. So far as I'm concerned, if they can use my information to help study medical stuff, it's entirely cool by me.

That's great, but it's your choice.

Also - that my DNA is on my sofa does not mean it's being published, sold, and used for purposes beyond my expectations.

Re: 23andMe Is Monetizing Your DNA the Way Facebook Monetizes 'Likes'

#137

Post by jacquesm »

dgacmu wrote: post #120
jacquesm wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

23andme does not sell clinical diagnostic services, period. If you are going to make really important decisions regarding your health or that of your descendants then you should really look elsewhere. You're not capable of interpreting the results and without a second scan you don't even know if the results are yours . This is really not an area where - unless you are qualified in the field - you should 'self medicat…

You keep making statements referring to _me_ that are inaccurate, but would be correct if you scoped them to "the average consumer" or "an untrained individual." First, I've got more than enough biology training to interpret it - a bachelors + a small amount of graduate study looking at analysis of chip-based genetic and protein assays. (Not my day job. I certainly wouldn't claim to be qualified to do this for anyone…

So, then maybe if you're so exceptional you should state these things up front rather than to add them afterwards to bolster your position.

23andme is there for the general consumer, not for you specifically.

Of course there are exceptions to every rule, I'm well aware of that and accept that there may be some extreme edge cases for which 23andme makes sense. But you make it seem like your situation is 'normal satisfied consumer' at first and then add more and more information to move it into 'extremely exceptional satisfied consumer' territory.

> I spotted a second cousin in the ancestry components of the list, and the maternal components match exactly with what I know.

http://jacquesmattheij.com/if-you-have-nothing-to-hide

Re: 23andMe Is Monetizing Your DNA the Way Facebook Monetizes 'Likes'

#138

Post by jacquesm »

biomcgary wrote: post #118
jacquesm wrote: post #56

It's fairly obvious by now that 23andme is just a collector of data, not a source of useful research or actual results. The best bit: you pay to give them your data. In that sense Google and Facebook are more fair, they give a free service and you pay with your data. For their customers (the ones who give them samples) 23andme is expensive infotainment, which will worse case lead to a whole pile of un-necessary tests…

I am friends with some academic researchers that recently completed a study with 23andMe. My friends designed the experiment, 24andMe researches applied their design to the data and reported the statistical outcome. For their field, the results had the most significance seen yet for the phenotype studied. The genetic variants identified in the study will now go into further testing to understand the mechanisms by whi…

Link to the paper?

Re: 23andMe Is Monetizing Your DNA the Way Facebook Monetizes 'Likes'

#139

Post by ramblerman »

jomamaxx wrote: post #136
JulianMorrison wrote: post #114

It's ridiculous to be stingy with your DNA information. You're dropping that stuff all over any sofa you sit on. It's not you (any more than your twin is you) and it's not yours in any proprietorial sense, it's just data. Chill and let the nice scientists study it. So far as I'm concerned, if they can use my information to help study medical stuff, it's entirely cool by me.

That's great, but it's your choice. Also - that my DNA is on my sofa does not mean it's being published, sold, and used for purposes beyond my expectations.

I can somewhat understand the privacy implications, but if your DNA samples are anonymous and hold a cure to cancer or some other disease it belongs to humanity, imo.

Re: 23andMe Is Monetizing Your DNA the Way Facebook Monetizes 'Likes'

#140

Post by burfog »

legaultm wrote: post #28
mmcconnell1618 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

23andme doesn't provide this data. I'm assuming you exported your data to a 3rd party service. Could you share which one?

23andme does provide health data in other countries like Canada.

I wonder what it would take to convince them that you are in Canada.
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