23andme - What happens when your data is your DNA?

This is part 1 of a science fiction/know your rights series of blog posts. The following is a true story. For this post I want you to use your creativity and write a paragraph about what you think happens to Sarah next. It can be anything you want based upon the information you now have about Sarah.

Sarah hovered over the mailbox, envelope in hand. She knew as soon as she mailed off her DNA sample, there’d be no turning back. She ran through the information she looked up on 23andMe’s website one more time: the privacy policy, the research parameters, the option to learn about potential health risks, the warning that the findings could have a dramatic impact on her life.
She paused, instinctively retracting her arm from the mailbox opening. Would she live to regret this choice? What could she learn about her family, herself that she may not want to know? How safe did she really feel giving her genetic information away to be studied, shared with others, or even experimented with?
Thinking back to her sign-up experience, Sarah suddenly worried about the massive amount of personally identifiable information she already handed over to the company. With a background in IT, she knew what a juicy target hers and other customers’ data would be for a potential hacker. Realistically, how safe was her data from a potential breach? She tried to recall the specifics of the EULA, but the wall of legalese text melted before her memory.
Pivoting on her heel, Sarah began to turn away from the mailbox when she remembered just why she wanted to sign up for genetic testing in the first place. She was compelled to learn about her own health history after finding out she had a rare genetic disorder, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, and wanted to present her DNA for the purpose of further research. In addition, she was on a mission to find her mother’s father. She had a vague idea of who he was, but no clue how to track him down, and believed DNA testing could lead her in the right direction.
Sarah closed her eyes and pictured her mother’s face when she told her she found her dad. With renewed conviction, she dropped the envelope in the mailbox. It was done.

https://blog.malwarebytes.com/101/2018/11/dna-testing-kit-companies-really-data/

Comments

  1. ElisabellaMay 5, 2019 at 1:04 PM

    Just by reading this story, I feel like Sarah is going to feel anxious until she gets the results back and freak out over the results when she gets them. I learned that Sarah thinks a lot about things and outcomes of those things so I feel like she would also come up with more outcomes of the fact that her DNA has just been given away. She will also feel happy, in a way, to learn more about her family's background. After learning about all of the things that 23andMe includes, she will regret it right after because of all the pressure she is putting on herself for her DNA being given away.

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  2. AnonymousMay 7, 2019 at 5:30 PM

    I think that Sarah is more likely to get her test results back with no complications with her genetic data whatsoever because according to identityforce.com, the odds of becoming a victim for identity theft was 6.64% of consumers, or 1 in 15 people, which is pretty low, although it still has a chance of occurirng.

    ReplyDelete
  3. danielleMay 8, 2019 at 10:45 AM

    i think Sarah is going to be nervous until she gets the results back. She doesn't know what to expect. when she gets the results back she will learn a lot of new things about herself and her family. She was very nervous to see the results because she didn't know what to expect she was also scared because she gave her DNA out.

    ReplyDelete
  4. JadeMay 10, 2019 at 9:00 AM

    I think Sarah is going to be scared about what her results will be. Until she gets them back she won't know her results. Nor will she know what the company did with her DNA. But, when she gets her results back, it will be a weight lifted off of her shoulders. She will learn more about where she comes from.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousMay 11, 2019 at 9:50 AM

    The next month Sarah received a package in the mall. She decided to open it when her mom came to her house. Her mother finally came and Sarah was anxious but also is very excited to see her results. She wanted her mother to read it to her instead of her reading it. There was nothing concerning that popped up and that gave Sarah a huge relief.

    ReplyDelete

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