Companies like 23andMe and Ancestry profit from collecting and selling consumers' genetic data from DNA testing kits without their full knowledge or consent. While the data can help identify diseases and find long lost family members, it also raises serious privacy and security concerns. Genetic information could be inaccurate, hackers could steal the data, and companies may not adequately protect it. The future may see more uses of genetic data that further test privacy as technology advances.

1. Medical & Genetic Privacy
BY ANTHONY MENDRYSA JR

2. Business is Booming
23 and me
Ancestry
All profit from the consumers data.
This data they obtain is then sold, unknowingly by the
consumer.
Should this be happening?

3. Data Banks
Collected by companies like
ancestry and 23 and me.
Through DNA testing kits.
Bought for research purposes.

4. Pros
Find diseases that are common
within the family.
Find family members you didn’t
know of.
Continued research using your
data

5. Cons
Inaccuracies in DNA readings itself
Giving up rights?
What if hackers obtained this information?

6. How are they
protecting
information
Quote from spokesperson of
ancestry “We have invested
heavily in building strong data
security, and we make ongoing
investments to continuously
strengthen our security
measures.”
ECMC was hacked by cyber
extortionists.

7. What can be
revealed through
genetics
Conformational diagnosis of a symptomatic individual
Presymptomatic testing for estimating risk of developing
disease
Presymptomatic testing for diagnosing a disease that will
manifest later
Prenatal screening and diagnosis
Newborn screening
Preimplantation genetic diagnosis
Carrier screening
Forensic testing
Paternal testing

8. Genetic future?
Just a few years ago we would have
thought it was impossible to open a
phone with just a fingerprint whats
next?

9. Cited Sources
Source 1:Rosenbaum, Eric. “5 Biggest Risks of Sharing Your DNA with Consumer Genetic-Testing Companies.” Google, Google, 2018,
www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2018/06/16/5-biggest-risks-of-sharing-dna-with-consumer-genetic-testing-companies.html
Source 2:Zamora, Wendy. “What DNA Testing Kit Companies Are Really Doing with Your Data - Malwarebytes Labs.” Google, Google, 2018,
www.google.com/amp/s/blog.malwarebytes.com/101/2018/11/dna-testing-kit-companies-really-data/amp/
Source 3:Davis, Henry L. “How ECMC Got Hacked by Cyber Extortionists – and How It's Recovering.” The Buffalo News, The Buffalo News, 22 May 2017, buffalonews.com/2017/05/20/ecmc-got-
hacked-cyber-extortionists/
Source 4:“Protecting Your Privacy & Security.” HealthIT.gov, 17 Dec. 2018, www.healthit.gov/topic/protecting-your-privacy-security
Source 5:Geroski, Andreas. “Spring 2019 Journal: Abuse of Our Genetic Data Is the Next Privacy Scandal.” Berkeley Public Policy Journal, 28 Feb. 2019, bppj.berkeley.edu/2019/02/27/spring-
2019-abuse-of-our-genetic-data-is-the-next-privacy-scandal/
Source 6:Stoeklé, Henri-Corto, et al. “23andMe: a New Two-Sided Data-Banking Market Model.” BMC Medical Ethics, BioMed Central, 31 Mar. 2016,
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4826522/
Source7:Ama. “Genetic Testing.” American Medical Association, 2020, www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/precision-medicine/genetic-testing