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Thread: Ancestry.com - Getting a little Creepy

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    So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John's Avatar
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    Ancestry.com - Getting a little Creepy

    Most Ancestry customers consent to have their DNA results, in a de-identified form, shared with the company's research partners in the pursuit of sciences, including finding cures to diseases. But Ancestry's main research partner is a secretive Google subsidiary called Calico Life Sciences, which is focused on ways to extend human longevity through biotechnology. Critics have labeled Calico a "vanity project" of several Silicon Valley billionaires who want to extend their own lifespans.

    Peter Pitts, a former associate commissioner for the Food and Drug Administration, said it was inevitable that private companies would one day commercialize DNA analysis. But the speed and scope of the industry's rise is worrisome, he said, in part because few consumers read the fine print of a company's terms and conditions.
    http://www.tampabay.com/news/busines...l-3-_168819151


    Also...

    Ancestry allows customers to request their DNA analysis be erased from the company's database after results are received, and also request destruction of their remaining biological sample. But it is a two-step process, and customers must read deep into the company's privacy statement to learn how to do it. Requests for DNA data elimination can be made online, but the company asks customers to call its support center to request destruction of their biological sample.

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    So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John's Avatar
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    UPDATE:

    Ancestry website is accused of selling users' DNA data to pharmaceutical companies after signing a $300million deal with giant GSK

    For many it is simply a novel way to find out more about the ancestors.

    But a neuroscientist has raised concerns over popular DNA-testing sites, warning firms are selling off customers' personal data to third parties.

    Dr Hannah Critchlow said data gathered by companies charging up to £149 for ancestry tests could potentially be 'manipulated' before being sold on.

    And she flagged up one firm in particular, 23andme, which last year sold on clients' DNA data to a large pharmaceutical company.

    Addressing an audience at the Hay Festival, Dr Critchlow, from the University of Cambridge, said: 'Really worryingly, you might have heard of a company called 23andme where people pay to give their DNA away to a company and it will sequence that DNA.

    'Then it might make some very vague biological predictions. What this company has done very recently is it has gone on and sold all your DNA data to a pharmaceutical company.'

    She said the pharmaceutical firm had 'obviously paid quite a lot of money for this', adding that many 'positive things' could spring from data being sold on.
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-GSK-deal.html

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