Technology

I haven't found an article yet that can actually articulate the problem with 23 and me right now, and actually did research into it or even read the terms and service. The problem with 23 and me is that they are not maximizing the share holder value of the data they are sitting on. The CEO wants to keep the company in line with the principals they were founded on which is to protect the privacy and data of their customers, while using opt in studies to build data sets that can be studied or sold.

Investors want to enshittify the company, and have been organizing a campaign against to company to try to drive it into liquidation to buy the data, even though the company is profitable. I wouldn't be surprised is they are funding these weekly omfg 23 and me bad articles.

I'm honestly not interested in 23andMe so I never bothered to fact-check so take this with a massive grain of salt but I did watch Linus (from TechTips, not Linux) rant about the privacy problems it has. I don't trust him about these things but I've also watched him rant in favor of letting the ~~spyware~~ consumer features of Windows stay on because they're so great and it's not that big of a deal, so 23andMe has to be doing something very, very wrong.

On this topic, I did ancestrydna long before I got concerned with my data and privacy. I have since deleted my data and had them destroy my physical sample as well (which took them a long time). But I wonder if the damage is done and even though they say they deleted and destroyed the sample how can I know for sure? Etc

I am a technology journalist – I like to think I am thoughtful about what data I share with corporations.

My brother in Christ, if you are a tech journalist then you, out of all people, should know not to give ANY data to corporations. That is a massive fuckup regarding your job.

Recreational DNA testing eventually led to discovering that I had never before met my biological father. Mom got it wrong. I met him and his family this summer finally. I am slightly irritated that my last name (and my child’s) is now kind of meaningless, and it’s too much of a hassle to change it.