I’ve always been intrigued by sites like 23andMe and AncestryDNA which give you insights based on a DNA sample. They claim to be able to tell you about your family heritage, identify other users with a close DNA match, and potentially indicate whether you’re susceptible to certain inherited diseases.
But I’d never got around to signing up for one. They’re not free; usually you have to pay for a kit. Also, I can’t imagine that I would get much useful data from them either. Ethnically, I’m White English, and as far as I know, so are most of my family tree going back several generations. Indeed, we haven’t really moved much out of the north of England. So such sites would be unlikely to tell me anything that I didn’t already know.
As it happens, recent events have made me even less inclined to sign up. A smaller UK firm, Atlas Biomed, seems to have gone bust, with no indication of what will happen to the data that users have provided. And the aforementioned 23andMe is in trouble; it’s cutting 200 jobs, representing 40% of its workforce, and seems to be losing multiple millions of dollars. Oh, and it got hacked last year.
Your DNA is not something you can change. It’s not like a bank account; should someone gain unauthorised access, then it’s possible for your bank to give you a new account number and cards. You can change email addresses, and, under witness protection schemes, even gain a whole new identity if needed. But you can’t make wholesale changes to your DNA (gene therapy notwithstanding). And so if your DNA leaks out, or is sold on, there’s not much you can do about it.
If you’re reading this and are thinking about using a DNA testing service, maybe undertake some due diligence first. Ask questions like: where is the company based, and where is it storing your data? How will they keep it secure? Will they securely delete all your data if you withdraw consent?
