Potato
Carefully read the TOS. Your information could be used for research and you will not get compensated or have a choice in the matter. They will keep and share your information with law enforcement. So basically you are giving up your rights to your DNA information. You only get access to the data as long as you keep paying a yearly membership fee. No mention if you can download the data. And of course once they get your billing info, that service auto renews. If this a service that did the analysis and then sent me an electronic copy without keeping any information on any of their systems, I might consider using it.
I strongly discourage anyone from buying this test and / or providing your genetic data to any third party.
At a minimum, please make an informed choice by taking a look at a really informative and unbiased article: Companies and foreign countries vying for your DNA - 60 Minutes - CBS News
When you turn over your genetic data, you are authorizing this third party to do whatever they want to do with your information, and that is a REALLY big deal.
I really appreciate you all bringing my attention to that info. I was planning to buy this for my husband. His grandfather was adopted, and no one seems to know anything about where he came from, etc. He has always been curious, but i don’t think it’s worth it after reading all that. Anyone know of an alternative that doesn’t carry so much risk?
There are no alternatives that do anything differently. A lot of scare mongering surrounds DNA testing. If you want the information, you have to be prepared to share your data. Not all data sharing is nefarious. Your data can help cure diseases and catch criminals. Sharing is a good thing. Not enough people seem to want to share these days. You have to be prepared to take the good with the potential “bad”. It is what it is. I used 23andMe when they first came out years ago. The medical information that I got from my DNA has been invaluable. I would never have known that I need to avoid Warfarin during any surgeries. Since I had major back surgery shortly after getting my 23andMe results, the test paid for itself right there. That was a decade ago, and nothing bad related to them having my DNA has happened yet. Also, I WAS able to opt out of sharing, if that helps. At the time, I opted out, but a few years ago, I opted back in so I could help others if at all possible. Good luck and best wishes!
If people are so worried about sharing their info, why not just use an alternate name for yourself?
Alt name or not (I’m sure they could still find you, billing info, address, etc). This is your most personal info to boot its not a cc number that can be changed, it’s your code forever and to some extent your family too! Do you want your personal and unique code exposed to find out details that you probably already know or may not want to know?
Your data can help cure diseases and catch criminals.
Your data can be used by big pharma to create a cure that they’ll sell at the highest possible price point back to you and MIGHT be used to wrongly accuse someone of a crime.
You have to be prepared to take the good with the potential “bad”.
Like Henrietta Lacks? Her cells, “…have also become the foundation of a multibillion-dollar industry. There are more than 17,000 patents involving HeLa cells.”
When we live in a utopian society where money no longer matters, then I won’t worry about something like this happening to me.
I would never have known that I need to avoid Warfarin during any surgeries.
IANAD but I’d be shocked if there was no other way to tell that you shouldn’t take Warfarin other than a DNA test from a 3rd party company.
That was a decade ago, and nothing bad related to them having my DNA has happened yet.
YET. Like you’re expecting it to happen at some point. And you should. You’re not the consumer of these products, your the product being sold to someone else.
Unfortunately, right now, there isn’t anything. ALL of these companies will sell your DNA to the highest bidder.
Yes, exactly! This could also potentially affect our children. Most people would be more than happy to allow use of it for the greater good of curing diseases, etc., as long as they could also be reasonably certain it wouldn’t be used for more nefarious or questionable purposes. If that’s the case, why bury it in the fine print instead of touting it as an added bonus?
Most people would be more than happy to allow use of it for the greater good of curing diseases, etc.
And therein lies a problem. I’d be HAPPY to cure a disease; the first problem is that that cure will be sold to the people who can pay. The second problem (100% tied to the first) is that if people are forced to pay I’ll never see a dime of that money. If Paul McCartney samples music from the Beastie Boys, they get paid a percentage. Why? Because without the BB, PMC has no sample. If we’re going to be a money driven society, it should be EXACTLY the same way.
Either pay up, or get money out of "health"care.
If that’s the case, why bury it in the fine print instead of touting it as an added bonus?
Narrator: It wasn’t the case.
Woot! I wish I would had known all this information BEFORE
Anyone selling these isn’t going to tell you; they want your sweet sweet DNA for themselves to (potentially) profit off of in the future.