So Much DNA Testing Has Put Others Privacy At Risk

Facial recognition software is also moving ahead by leaps and bounds. Technology is turning first world countries into a very small towns with very little privacy. People who want to remain undiscovered will have to do what they've always done: change their names, move to the hinterlands, get off the grid, and have very little contact with others.
 

Nothing you can do about it now. You can't put that toothpaste back in the tube now that it's out.
 
StarSong said:
Facial recognition software is also moving ahead by leaps and bounds. Technology is turning first world countries into a very small towns with very little privacy. People who want to remain undiscovered will have to do what they've always done: change their names, move to the hinterlands, get off the grid, and have very little contact with others.
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How would facial recognition software work if you have cosmetic surgery, I wonder. Anyway, I have no desire to get my DNA tested. Nor do I wish to find any long-lost relatives. I'm busy enough with the ones I already know about. And I don't like the idea of some company owning my DNA and using it as they like.
 
StarSong said:
Oh my... Dr. Johnny Fever for an avatar? I may have just fallen in love with you, Trade!
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I guess I should be flattered.

If I can just get past that Tim Curry in the Rocky Horror Picture Show avatar of yours.
 
I only glanced at your link as I am busy and have to get off the computer. I will say almost all my family has had DNA testing and had the opportunity to set it to private but we chose to share our info with others who share our DNA. Some in the family don't bother with it and others look to see who some of their relatives are and share family history back and forth. No one knows our address or phone number unless we gave it to them, which we have not.
 
I have never had my DNA tested .

I'm wondering if it's a racket like everything else in this world.

They could tell you anything. How would you know or be able to prove it.

You would need two tests from two independent labs and they probably get together.

I just don't trust anything anymore. Got scammed on my bank account. Got my money back but lost my enthusiasm for online banking. I don't put anything on my computer anymore.

I don't know how they do it but they even got my cell phone number and I was getting calls steady that I had to block.
 
Camper6, the DNA company has no information other than one's name - in my case my husband's last name. They found relatives I knew about and unearthed plenty that I didn't (thanks to Grandma's wild past) but eventually traced the genetic lines with those folks. Not all were pleased to learn about a new branch of the family. Too funny.

In my own circle more than one person has made some interesting discoveries due to DNA testing. (Ummm.... Mom, it says that daddy isn't really bio Daddy? And who's this half-sibling I never heard about?)

Since having my DNA tested and learning the real deal on my own genetics, I half-laugh up my sleeve at the meticulous genealogy and family trees written in those old family Bibles. Maybe those people raised the generations, but did the biological parentage occur exactly as set down in ink? Maybe yes, maybe no.
 
I'm tempted to make Jennifer my new avatar, but I'm too lazy.

40100_v9_ba.jpg
 
To get back to the privacy issue, we have definitely lost any idea of privacy, even without dna testing. It's as if the online advertisers have gotten into our heads.

The other day, I googled a product on my computer. Suddenly, ads for that product started popping up on my phone, while playing Words with Friends. Somehow, that seemed spooky.
 
I can see a good side to it though.

Got a call about a year ago from a deceased friends daughter. She wanted to know if I knew who her father really was? My friend raised her & her sister as his own, knowing that they were not. The wife/mother was a bit 'easy' , back in the day it seemed. She told him they were not his, 'they' never told the girls. He & I were close friends, and his daughter thought I might know. I do not, because he & his ex did not. Yes it lead to the divorce. My friend said he thinks it's the baseball team. He said even she [wife] was not sure.....she admitted to having a problem .

The daughter wanted to know due to health concerns, both hers & that of her children. Her mother it seems had developed dementia and now for sure did not know.
 
Sunny said:
To get back to the privacy issue, we have definitely lost any idea of privacy, even without dna testing. It's as if the online advertisers have gotten into our heads.

The other day, I googled a product on my computer. Suddenly, ads for that product started popping up on my phone, while playing Words with Friends. Somehow, that seemed spooky.
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Duck.duck.go is my go-to search engine because they don't track their users. I only use Google if I can't find what I need on DDG.
 
Although privacy is tough the goal should be to reverse privacy compromises rather than just accept them. One thing anyone can do is limit or avoid voluntarily giving away any personal information.

And just like other industries and companies the DNA testing business is not immune. 92 million accounts hacked at MyHeritage this year.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech...faces-concerns-dna-testing-privacy/675035002/

DNA data can be just as enticing to criminals along with money. The DNA code is permanent. It is not money that could be replaced or a password that can be changed.

https://www.cbronline.com/news/myheritage-hack

One can help minimize privacy compromises by not giving away personal information no matter how seemingly inconsequential. Businesses like this are holding out the silver platter and people are putting their stuff on it.
 
WhatInThe said:
DNA data can be just as enticing to criminals along with money. The DNA code is permanent. It is not money that could be replaced or a password that can be changed.

https://www.cbronline.com/news/myheritage-hack
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Sorry, but I don't see how criminals could use stolen DNA results to their advantage? A person's DNA doesn't change, so it's not like they could assume your identity or anything. :confused: So they learn that my eyes are blue? Gasp.

And that article you linked says the hack was client's email addresses and passwords, so pretty much the same as when Yahoo was hacked.
 
C'est Moi said:
Sorry, but I don't see how criminals could use stolen DNA results to their advantage? A person's DNA doesn't change, so it's not like they could assume your identity or anything. :confused: So they learn that my eyes are blue? Gasp.

And that article you linked says the hack was client's email addresses and passwords, so pretty much the same as when Yahoo was hacked.
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It also noted that stolen genetic information could be deleted or amended. Health insurers or providers could use that information to determine services( keeping in mind that doctors have been caught blacklisting patients in the past). And as noted the characteristic data found in dna could be used to hack accounts. Or derive other information.
 
WhatInThe said:
It also noted that stolen genetic information could be deleted or amended. Health insurers or providers could use that information to determine services( keeping in mind that doctors have been caught blacklisting patients in the past). And as noted the characteristic data found in dna could be used to hack accounts. Or derive other information.
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Sorry, but one cheek swab would be all it takes to correct "amended" information. I have not had any genetic testing done and have no plans to do so, but I would not fear it.
 
I've done the DNA through ancestry and got connected with the granddaughter of my great grandmothers sister (I know, confusing) and we've been exchanging old photos. My grandfather was married before he me my grandma and his first wife died. I got connected with the daughter of his son by his first marriage. I was hoping to find someone from my dad's side but that has been more difficult since I'm female and don't have the Y chromosome and I have no brothers, only sisters.

As for privacy, if someone in my family is a serial killer or a rapist or whatever and my DNA can be used to find them then I've got no problem with that.
 
I don't like the idea of being added to another database (and I'm not Libertarian) that some future despot could use on the current population or their progeny despite whatever benefits there are to such a database.
 
dkay said:
I've done the DNA through ancestry and got connected with the granddaughter of my great grandmothers sister (I know, confusing) and we've been exchanging old photos. My grandfather was married before he me my grandma and his first wife died. I got connected with the daughter of his son by his first marriage. I was hoping to find someone from my dad's side but that has been more difficult since I'm female and don't have the Y chromosome and I have no brothers, only sisters.

As for privacy, if someone in my family is a serial killer or a rapist or whatever and my DNA can be used to find them then I've got no problem with that.
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The problem with criminal investigation anyone with similar dna becomes a suspect even though they had zero to do with the crime, victims or location. Before they caught the Golden State killer one of the DNA hits took police to nursing home in the northwest in another state. I don't want myself or any other relative automatically going a suspect list because of a voluntary dna service and what a distant unknown relative did in another state. And it's not just criminal, medical insurance and providers could use to approve or ration services. It's also could lead to various forms of eugenics. Just saw a headline today someone wants to do a study on college and genetics. Using genes could determine people's fate or career path at birth. Throw in the usual like names, address, personal history etc these sites are a danger to personal security.

I knew people doing family tree research well before the internet and these dna services and they seemed to have done just fine. We had some guy from a different state ask to interview our local family in the 1980s. He had money and nothing else to do. His goal was to do the history of the current living family/lineage. New another guy spent a few years on local family history which he expanded to history on a different continent through hard core library and records request research.

If one wants their dna analyzed fine but it should not be put in a database because it puts other blood relatives at risk who did not want to do a dna test, don't give two poops about family history and want their privacy respected.
 

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