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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

#41

Post by HenryBemis »

kfk wrote: post #20
fsckboy wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in favor of privacy, and I'm willing to go more out of my way to not share than the vast majority of people, but I'm also in favor of individual choice, and I can't think of a privacy model that would disallow other people from sharing their information just because you have some matching information.

FYI, the police is able to find criminals now by finding DNA sequences similarities with your relatives. Not saying this is good or bad, I am just saying you don't know the extent of the impact to your personal freedom when your relative's DNA is shared.

Well they can narrow it down to the family, unless it was the very DNA giver that left that DNA sample on the scene of the crime.

And since 23andme (as I assume others) don't do these anonymously, there is no hope. Unless people use someone as a proxy (i.e. I-1 give my sample to a male colleague to send it as his-2, he-2 gives his sample to someone else to send it as his-3, and so on..). Police would eventually find the guilty in case of a crime, but the 23andme's of this world will be selling confusing (wrong) data.

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

#42

Post by clarionbell »

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?

Find a private lab to do the test. It may be a bit more involved, and cost more money, but not by that much.

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

#43

Post by al_be_back »

there was a craze for DNA analysis 10+ years ago, the idea being 'if we can analyze e-commerce transactions, why not the human DNA!' The UPS being mostly around Health than Ancestry. That's flopped in my view.

Recent Gnome sequencing research is revealing that actually a Gene (downstream) doesn't necessitate a Health/Medical Condition (upstream) [1]. I think we need highest security measures, user education and Regulation when it comes to DNA, medical records, and biometric data (face, finger, iris, voice etc).

Charles Darwin & Co documented their theory of evolution well, there's enough ancestry there for most i think, at least as a solid starting point / platform. My guess would be if there was more education around theory of evolution (science), there would be less interest in Ancestry services (DNA based), leaving only a Medical case for them, and hence demanding greater protection/security.

[1] A biological relativity view of the relationships between genomes and phenotypes, Denis Noble - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2012.09.004

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

#44

Post by mewpmewp2 »

skummetmaelk wrote: post #21
fsckboy wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in favor of privacy, and I'm willing to go more out of my way to not share than the vast majority of people, but I'm also in favor of individual choice, and I can't think of a privacy model that would disallow other people from sharing their information just because you have some matching information.

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?

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

#46

Post by mrtksn »

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.

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 leftover of food and running test on the saliva left on the half consumed food.

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

#47

Post by mrtksn »

mo_42 wrote: post #15
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?

I had the same question once and dug around the internet a bit. It seems like they don't verify your information. I'd recommend to use a fake name and not something like "Ano Nymous" as their rules don't allow that.

Right, if they don't do any extra verification on identity then non-perosonal mailing address and a single use payment method should do.

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

#48

Post by mrtksn »

poyu wrote: post #13
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?

I signed up with fake name, delivered to a friends address, and a Privacy.com single use credit card. No one is forcing you to use real credentials anywhere online.

> No one is forcing you to use real credentials anywhere online.

Definitely not true, many services require KYC and others do it to prevent fraud.

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

#49

Post by spacebacon »

It's imperative to recognize that the healing of cross-generational trauma is a journey within an individual's lifetime, rather than resorting to a confrontational approach that employs genetic data to incriminate individuals based on what science implies about their genetic makeup. The flaws inherent in this data—biased, widespread, and contaminated—highlight its unreliability. Relying on such data, which historically proves to be often incorrect, represents a narrow perspective. Using it to calculate high probabilities for targeting individuals in specific scenarios fosters more animosity than extracting genuine, overarching truths.

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

#50

Post by mrtksn »

mtlmtlmtlmtl wrote: post #24
fsckboy wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

there is no credential more comprehensively solid than your genome

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.
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