I literally had an econ professor years ago who directly told us "do not take a genetics test". This was before the ACA

The reason was simple. It's information that once a private company gets a hold of it, they will use it to hurt you. Whether it's a drug company that learns you're predisposed to addiction, so better to give you it people around you nice temporary discounts on addictive meds, or an insurance company that learns you're predisposed to cancer, so better to look for ways to deny or drop coverage.

Once these companies know a little bit about your nature, they'll exploit any aspect possible to increase profits.

This was not a progressive/socialist econ professor. Just someone who knows how capitalism works.

You don’t spend a quarter Bil without knowing what you’re doing. The company is involved in drug discovery.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regeneron_Pharmaceuticals

I think it’s weird you’ve made the assumption these professionals buying this haven’t already considered the things you’ve said… like that’s all looked at during the acquisition process

I've not submitted my DNA to any genealogy sites for testing, but what annoys me about all this is that in order to get as much info about my family tree as possible (for posterity and confirming theorized connections) I SHOULD be testing my parents's DNA because the oldest family members are the best for connecting to distant relatives, and my parents aren't gonna live forever. But I can't get them (or myself) tested, because of considerations like this. This shouldn't have to be a consideration. But it is, because of greedy bastards and the gombeen politicians who allow stuff like this to be legal.

The VC and founders should be painlessly deboned.

Anyone trusting anyone else in a capitalist society is signing up to be the sucker. Has been this way for 200 years.

Historically illiterate populace.

i feel saddened that people focus entirely on hindsight but take the current situation as inevitable result of the past, and regard it as unchangeable.

no, this does not have to be treated like any other capitalist asset. if there's a shred of belief that the privacy and dignity of us humans matters to us now in 2025, just get together and disown 23andme, nuke the data, and turn the page.

unfortunately we have to stick harder to the principle of capitalism than any crusader in the middle ages had to stick to the Bible... helpless powerful species

It's not about blaming the victims, but correctly identifying what caused the situation and give society at large a better chance of avoiding it from happening again. From not trusting magazines about how secure the new wondertech is, all the way to not reading and understanding the legal paper and agreements they've agreed to.

I don't believe people should be robbed of their agency - You even bring up many good reasons for using 23AM despite being aware of the potential privacy issues. Rather, people should have the information to make a concious choice.

The blame for the situation is with the company. The crucial choice was always in the hand of the users.

I’ve publicly uploaded mine to anywhere that’s take it anyway who cares. Unless you’re American there’s no huge risk. If they use the anonymised data to discover new drugs and treatment then I’m glad to contribute. It’s only <0.1% of your genome.

I didn't get the choice when my easily fooled parents decided it was a good idea.

We tried the 'delete your 23 and me data' but who the fuck knows if that works.

Now some corpos own my DNA probably.

Thanks mom.

It's not a individual problem of personnal responsibility

23andme was named "invention of the year" by Time in 2008

perfect, I am now openly pro Trump, Zuckerberg and also Putin, all of whom have been named Time Person of the year from 2007 onwards. This is because I don't even bother to understand what Time nominates, but also entirely willing to base very important political or life decisions around this. If you call this out as being incredibly fucking stupid you are victim blaming me. Just because I do not have ever read the magazines nominations of awards that I base my being around does not mean you can attack me for this.

Orphans, people with absent parents, decedents of slaves, the list goes on for folks who would understandably go for an affordable way to access their genetic history.

This is slightly more sympathetic but also 23andme would help you zilch in this scenario because this is not what they do. But I do understand how coming from a vulnerable emotionial position might lead you there.

I'm saddened to see more victim blaming here than anger at the ToS/privacy policy fuckery and a complete lack of consumer protection.

Having said beforementioned, there is 0 consumer protection that would prevent this scenario. This bullshit has to rank among the largest DNA Databse in the world, and, as such, would be the target and has probably been leaked to every major and minor intelligence service in the world since years, even before they just openly sold it off to god knows who. The crux of data security is that while it is a society wide issue, it is also a personal issue. You can't outregulate some idiot just handing over all their data for funsies or SECURITY to whatever entity, to point out the big ones. This holds true regardless of socioeconomic system in place, because the entire point is that it is your data, not anybody elses.

Also, and I do agree I am malding over this, I want to point out that people have been warning about 23andme for a decade for obvious reasons and largely got ignored as being doomer nerds

Yeah it’s weird seeing so many people dump on 23andMe users. My grandmother got to meet her biological daughter that she was forced to give up for adoption. 23andMe as a service is amazing and has been life changing for some people. And all things considered Regeneron buying them is a good thing. They’re already set up to protect sensitive patient data.

Exactly, and you cannot hope to see any meaningful regulation out of the current government.

The company will just buy The Secret Service/Trump's Presidential Library a fleet of Rolls Royce and he'll intimidate congress into silence.

Especially considering who bought it.

My aunt did this along with posting a bunch of family photos and falling for those quizzes that ask your pet's name or your childhood address. If you have one person like that the privacy of your entire family is compromised.

We told her back around 2010 not to do this kind of stuff, but she's somewhere between "If I have nothing to hide" and "what's the harm?". I hope she gets it now, but we don't talk to her often

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_James_DeAngelo#Investigation

Yeah, I would advice against becoming a serial killer for starters.

In 30 years they're going to squirt genetically modified copies of you into corporate artificial uteruses and that's how they will meet their worker needs.