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inlandempire ( inlandempire@jlai.lu )  to Privacy@lemmy.ml · 2 years ago

DNA of 15 Million People for Sale in 23andMe Bankruptcy

www.404media.co

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  • privacy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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DNA of 15 Million People for Sale in 23andMe Bankruptcy

www.404media.co

inlandempire ( inlandempire@jlai.lu )  to Privacy@lemmy.ml · 2 years ago
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  • cross-posted to:
  • privacy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
There is no way to know what a buyer will want to do with the reams of genetic information it has collected. Customers, meanwhile, still have no way to change their underlying genetic data.
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  • inlandempire ( inlandempire@jlai.lu ) OP
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    2 years ago

    This was just waiting to happen tbh

    • Kongar ( Kongar@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) 
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      2 years ago

      I’ve been telling people since this dna testing started that sooner or later that data will be for sale, an insurance company will buy it, and then get used against people to increase their health insurance rates or deny claims.

      But I’m a crazy conspiracy theorist according to everyone ;)

      Same reason I don’t want to buy a new car anymore…

      • Telorand ( Telorand@reddthat.com ) 
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        2 years ago

        Same reason I don’t want to buy a new car anymore…

        Because of the “driving behavior” data that gets sent out via secret cell connections and bought by insurance companies?

        • Kongar ( Kongar@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) 
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          2 years ago

          Yup. Go ahead and try turning that cell phone radio thing off. Why do you need an app for remote start? Why can’t it be on the keyfob anymore? But again, nothing to see here - just the continued enshittification of everything.

          • Auli ( Auli@lemmy.ca ) 
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            2 years ago

            I just pulled the fuse. Problem solved. Phone start doesn’t work but never used it.

            • FriendBesto ( FriendBesto@lemmy.ml ) 
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              2 years ago

              Safest thing that would actually work is to take out the battery. ;-)

              Not on electric cars. LOL

        • ocean ( ocean@lemmy.selfhostcat.com ) 
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          2 years ago

          What! What cars have this???

          • Telorand ( Telorand@reddthat.com ) 
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            2 years ago

            Yes, unfortunately. I dunno if it’s a global thing or just in the US, but several years ago, they started sending your car’s computer data to insurance companies, who then use it to determine how well you drive and what insurance rates they want to give you.

            It’s really scummy.

            • FriendBesto ( FriendBesto@lemmy.ml ) 
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              2 years ago

              Here is at least one of those reports the other poster touched on

              https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/articles/its-official-cars-are-the-worst-product-category-we-have-ever-reviewed-for-privacy/

            • Auli ( Auli@lemmy.ca ) 
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              2 years ago

              All cars for awhile. Mozilla released a privacy report a year or two ago and it seems nobody cared. Which is why they can do this stuff.

          • FriendBesto ( FriendBesto@lemmy.ml ) 
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            2 years ago

            Yup.

            https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/articles/its-official-cars-are-the-worst-product-category-we-have-ever-reviewed-for-privacy/

            • ocean ( ocean@lemmy.selfhostcat.com ) 
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              2 years ago

              Wonder if the ones without apps do it.

        • Auli ( Auli@lemmy.ca ) 
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          2 years ago

          Just disconnect the modem problem solved.

          • FriendBesto ( FriendBesto@lemmy.ml ) 
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            2 years ago

            Not sure if it is a joke.

            But according to the legalese of some manufacfurers, just being inside the car is a form of you giving consent.

            You would have to disable all radios and receivers, GPS, never take your car for maintenance and never connect your car’s systems to anything and never connect your phone or peripherals to it. As your phone will send car data to the manufacturers. Disable or break all cameras. And this is assuming they even respect you opting out. Apparently, most people are so unaware of the data collecting being such a huge thing that some manufacturers do not even really disable what you tell them to disable, or by using the car or an option in the car, you give them permission to enable them again. LOL Point is that you can’t or most people won’t do any of these things and car makers won’t stop until maybe they get sued.

            https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/03/how-figure-out-what-your-car-knows-about-you-and-opt-out-sharing-when-you-can

      • FriendBesto ( FriendBesto@lemmy.ml ) 
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        2 years ago

        LOL I told everyone the same. Same on my end, they thought I was being conspirational. As if a company could never one day fail and have to sell their assets. It seemed impossible to them, somehow.

        I used to think that part of the reason is that they submitted their samples without thinking and later contemplating how not smart that action was; created some hard cognitive dissonance, making calling me a conspiracy theorist the far easier pill to swallow than admitting a mistake. Since I know of people who did it early on, as they thought they were being cutting edge at the time.

        Yeah, I do not want to buy a car either or anything that sells in subscriptions. I am already keeping an eye on models of non-smart TVs for when my current model finally dies. LOL

    • FriendBesto ( FriendBesto@lemmy.ml ) 
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      I am surprised it took this long. But they got hacked 2 years ago, so data on millions of people had already been leaked.

      They were surviving on fumes since since they were still dealing with the fallout of that.

  • SocialMediaRefugee ( SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.ml ) 
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    2 years ago

    I knew the whole idea of letting a company get your genetic fingerprint was a bad idea from the start. Being curious about my ancestry wasn’t worth it.

    • FriendBesto ( FriendBesto@lemmy.ml ) 
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      2 years ago

      Yeah, I feel like I dodged a bullet. As I knew some family members who thought about it but declined to do it because of the for-profit angle in case the company flopped.

  • Kng ( Kng@feddit.rocks ) 
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    2 years ago

    This is the perfect example of why privacy matters. No matter how much you trust a parent company one day when the investors come knocking they are legally obligated to liquidate all assets to the highest bidder. Today its 23andme tomorrow it could be discord, google, amazon, Facebook or any other tech company.

    • sqgl ( sqgl@beehaw.org ) 
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      2 years ago

      In case people only saw the headline…

      The sale is because a breach already happened: “hackers obtained personal data of about seven million of its customers in October 2023”.

      They cannot afford the lawsuits.

  • SocialMediaRefugee ( SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.ml ) 
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    2 years ago

    How to remove your data from 23andMe

    • The Menemen ( menemen@lemmy.ml ) 
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      2 years ago

      Hmm.

      One of the notable issues is that this process also won’t delete all of your data — according to 23andMe’s privacy disclosure, your genetic information, date of birth, and sex will be retained for an undisclosed amount of time to comply with the company’s legal obligations,

  • SplashJackson ( SplashJackson@lemmy.ca ) 
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    2 years ago

    What a pile of fuck, not a decent person at that company to deep-six the data before they left

    • FriendBesto ( FriendBesto@lemmy.ml ) 
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      Why would anyone expect anyone to risk getting sued or risk going to jail for that? Fully get want you are saying, though.

      The smart thing was to never trust some random upstart company with a cutsie name with the code of our literal DNA. Caveat emptor and all that.

      So much wrong can be done if it ends up in the wrong hands in any of a multitude of sectors, from military contractors to insurance companies who could literally up premiums based on DNA profiles and propensity for illnesses. And that latter one would be one of the most docile of outcomes.

  • RaptorBenn ( RaptorBenn@lemmy.zip ) Banned
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    Removed by mod

    • blind3rdeye ( blind3rdeye@lemm.ee ) 
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      2 years ago

      I don’t think it is reasonable to expect every individual to become a privacy / legal expert. I think people should have reasonable protections and assurances given to them without needing to study the details of everything they do on a case-by-case basis.

      We have laws about what food can and cannot be sold - so that individuals don’t have to personally test and monitor every product for safety. Privacy & data could be done like that too.

      • RaptorBenn ( RaptorBenn@lemmy.zip ) Banned
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        Removed by mod

    • interdimensionalmeme ( interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml ) 
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      Ok, either you let this slide, or I personnally strangle every living lawyers.

      • RaptorBenn ( RaptorBenn@lemmy.zip ) Banned
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        Removed by mod

        • interdimensionalmeme ( interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml ) 
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          What, "what? "

          What did you not understand? I think I was very clear, use your words.

          • RaptorBenn ( RaptorBenn@lemmy.zip ) Banned
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            Removed by mod

  • melsaskca ( melsaskca@lemmy.ca ) 
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    2 years ago

    You can remove the data yourself but you need to log in with biometrics. A retinal scan, a face recognition scan and a fingerprint. /s

  • SocialMediaRefugee ( SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.ml ) 
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    2 years ago

    I’m going to buy it all and work on my super human…

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