Can your genetic information be used against you?

Your genetic information could also potentially be used against you in a court case. If you were to seek damages for a work-related injury, for example, a company might try to use information from your genome to point to potential other causes for your symptoms.

Is genetic information private?

The federal laws that deal with genetic information are GINA (the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008) and, more recently, HIPAA. GINA is essentially an anti-discrimination law that has nothing to do with privacy. It also restricts employers from asking for or buying genetic information.

Is genetic privacy important?

When the access of genetic information is regulated, it can prevent insurance companies and employers from reaching such data. This could avoid issues of discrimination, which oftentimes leaves an individual whose information has been breached without a job or without insurance.

Why is it important to keep genetic information private?

As direct-to-consumer genetic tests become increasingly available, particularly over the Internet, it is important to understand their privacy risks. It is prohibited for any person to collect, use, or disclose your genetic test results without your written consent.

Who should control your genetic information?

A clinical geneticist believes that if anyone is to own genetic information, it has to be all those who have inherited it and, more importantly, it must be available to all those who might be at risk. The question, she says, is how to balance a right to privacy with disclosing risks to others.

Is it safe to use 23 and Me?

23andMe takes a number of intensive security measures to keep data secure, its spokesperson said. Its information management system has been certified under three different independent security standards and all data is encrypted in transit.

Who owns your genetic information?

Any Genetic Information (your DNA data and any information derived from it) belongs to the person who provided the DNA sample, subject only to the rights granted to AncestryDNA in this Agreement.”

Are genetic tests safe?

Generally genetic tests have little physical risk. Blood and cheek swab tests have almost no risk. However, prenatal testing such as amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling has a small risk of pregnancy loss (miscarriage). Genetic testing can have emotional, social and financial risks as well.

Is the law on genetic privacy broad enough?

Laws covering genetic privacy not broad enough, experts say. Many privacy experts are concerned that the only law currently covering genetic privacy, the Genetic Information Non-discrimination Act (also known as GINA) is too narrow in its focus on banning employers or insurance companies from accessing this information.

Should you be concerned about your genome privacy?

Genetics testing companies, like Veritas Genetics, Ancestry and 23andMe, are providing consumers with an unprecedented level of access to their personal genome. Privacy risks are not well understood by consumers. Law enforcement and the federal government can pressure these companies to share your DNA.

Is your genetic information protected in the US?

The US, in particular, has large gaps in its genetic privacy laws. In 2017 a bill was approved that would allow your employer in the US to demand access to your genetic information . The fact is that there’s no adequate legal protection for your genetic information anywhere in the world.

Is genetic information privacy a high priority for consumers?

The genetic information space is in many respects still uncharted legislative territory, and consumers are taking these companies at their word, and they do state that protecting customers’ privacy is their highest priority.