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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'

#91

Post by phyzome »

biomcgary wrote: post #43
krisdol wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just want to pay for a service or product and have that be the end of my interaction with the company as well as the end of the company's use, possession, and monetization of my data. When I buy a stick of gum I deprive the store of that stick of gum in exchange for money. On the Internet I'm purchasing something but the company gets to hold on to and share it indefinitely. It not only benefits from the money excha…

Your genetic data is nearly worthless, even to you, unless the aggregated database exists. The real cost is in the analysis and interpretation not the collection of the data. Thus, for your own benefit (i.e., clear knowledge of your genetic risks), they must monetize your data (i.e., find someone to pay them to perform the analysis, whether drug company or charity, e.g., American Heart Association). As long as they a…

And the privacy of my genetic data is not worth anything to those other parties, but it's sure worth something to me.

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

#95

Post by bjourne »

aub3bhat wrote: post #6

So on one side journalists lament lack of new drug development & just the shoddy state of healthcare tech, while as soon as any new data that can potentially unlock new drug targets (23andMe) or provider better support (Google DeepMind Health) is introduced, Such efforts are quickly demonized with spread of Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt. Rather than asking important questions such as at which level the "aggregate" data…

Nope. I voluntarily ticked the box on 23andme when it asked me if I was ok to have my dna shared with research institutions to help improve science. But SHARING is not SELLING. I'm NOT ok with them selling it because I think that is unethical of them to charge for something I thought they would give away freely.

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

#96

Post by jolux »

moultano wrote: post #81
shawn-butler wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You wouldn't know what the practical consequences are because you are entirely in the dark where the data goes. That is kind of the point.

By "practical consequence" I mean "something that has actually happened to you or someone you are aware of," not the worst case scenario of a dystopian vision.

Have you ever had more than a minor annoyance from not wearing a seatbelt?

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

#97

Post by GoodForThem »

Lots of posts in this thread feel like distributed talking points, and seem to have been put together using a similar formula.

"As a customer of 23andme" ... something about this benefiting everyone ... "good for them" ... something about clickbait (attack the source)

There are legitimate privacy concerns here, and I really wish the tech industry would stop shitting on the concept of privacy and attempting to make anyone who brings those concerns up out to be an insane tinfoil hatter.

We really don't know what kind of information could be gained from DNA in the future, and I don't think it's responsible to tell people to "just trust" that these companies have good intentions.

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

#98

Post by joshschreuder »

mmcconnell1618 wrote: post #23
stevecalifornia wrote: post #15

The pros of using 23andMe has vastly outweighed any cons, real or hypothetical. Here is a pro: I was able to print out a 3 page report to give to my new doctor that described what medications I had a low / high tolerance for and what medical conditions to look out for as I grow older. My doctor was floored-- and as a result we do a few extra tests every year to keep track of a potential eye condition I am at a higher…

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

Promethease (http://promethease.com/) is probably the most well known in terms of getting health trait data

There's also Athletigen (https://athletigen.com/) which focuses more on the sports science side of things.

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

#99

Post by jghn »

dogma1138 wrote: post #79
biomcgary wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The 23andMe data is amazingly useful for academic research too. I am familiar with a study (but not involved), soon to be published, that used their data to identify genetic variants responsible for a particular problem with pregnancy. The price was phenomenally lower than a more typical genome wide association study (GWAS) of which there are several publicly funded efforts. The results are much cleaner than previous…

Actually from everyone I talked too, 23andMe is pretty useless since they do very shallow sequencing, the amount of actual correlation is fairly low, and false positives and false negatives is actually quite high.

They don't do sequencing at all. What they're doing is using DNA SNP chips which will identify your genotype in the several million positions that tend to vary from person to person.

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

#100

Post by rickycook »

bduerst wrote: post #76
moultano wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you ever had more than a minor annoyance result from some company's use of your data? I understand the instinct and ick factor, but I've rarely seen an actual practical consequence.

I've asked this question before and it is typically answered with nothing more than hypothetical "nightmare" scenarios.

there are plenty of situations that only exist in nightmare scenarios. that doesn't make them any less scary. someone brought up seat belts further up, and it's a decent example. why wear a seat belt? it only protects you in nightmare scenarios
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