Comment by nisa | Hacker News Reader

Comment by nisa | Hacker News Reader

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I don't feel particularly happy seeing a private profit oriented corporation having the DNA data and the results of analysis for millions of people and establishing a market dealing with this data.

In the end it's your life, your defects that could be on sale and determine your worth in a capitalist society. This is scary because you fate is determined by your birth and some algorithmus that may or may not be correct and some statistical chance that you suffer of certain diseases.

From a capitalistic "I want to minimize costs and maximize profit" perspective it's a perfect fit but the results on society are scary.

On the other hand there are clear benefits to have the possibility to prevent the harm caused by diseases or to adjust your life on informed data about possible risks.

However if you life insurance can buy that data from 23andme or your employer you are fucked and all the talk of equality before the law is moot because some DNA data from you prevents you from closing contracts due to "risk mitigation".

I don't know why anyone would belittle criticism in this direction - it's something that needs to be debated.

I thought about using 23andme but this problems stopped me from doing so. This shouldn't be a for profit but these are the times.

ADA already 'prevents' job based discrimination based on DNA.* https://www.ada.gov/

An employer buying DNA on potential job candidates is opening themselves up to a world of litigation for little real gain. Similarly, health insurance may no longer discriminate based on prior health conditions due to the dreaded 'Obama Care'.

We can debate if that's enough, or if these things should be rolled back. However, at a practical level it's currently a non issue.

PS: While most of this is not a significant disability. If people treat DNA condition X as an issue then it fall under "or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment. "

Laws can change. Health insurance can't discriminate now, but what happens if Obamacare was repealed, or if the ADA was amended?

An ugly mess happens. Which is why I think people would be asking themselves those questions before repealing Obamacare / breaking ADA. I think there's a limit to which politicians can pull tricks on people beyond which society's self-preservation instinct kicks in and people vehemently repeal harmful ideas. I doubt you can create a dystopian future with a single vote; it needs to be done very sneakily so that people won't notice until it's too late.

All you need is a big enough crisis to get people to support suspension of the normal checks and balances. That can happen very quickly, in the right circumstances.

Obamacare / ACA didn't set that policy, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 was passed almost unanimously by Congress and signed into law by George W Bush. It's a very popular, bipartisan policy.

ACA dated back to 1990, GINA acted as clarification in terms of genetic predisposition to developing a disease in the future (potential problems) and specifically excluded life, disability, or long-term care insurance. Which arguably made the situation worse.

Obamacare prevented insurance companies from treating active genetic disorders as preexisting conditions.

> if you life insurance can buy that data from 23andme or your employer you are fucked

https://www.23andme.com/privacy/#drawer-thirdpartysharing

23andMe will not provide any person's data (genetic or non-genetic) to an insurance company or employer.

We have been long-time supporters of legislative efforts intended to prevent genetic discrimination and to safeguard individuals' genetic privacy. In the US specifically, we were active in the development of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) enacted in 2008. GINA is federal legislation that protects Americans from discrimination in health insurance and employment decisions on the basis of genetic information. GINA does not cover life or disability insurance providers.

In addition, we have supported the California Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (Senate Bill No. 559), which was enacted in 2011.

I really wanted to use 23andme, but they actually prohibit anonymous usage. I know of no place that offers the service I want, which is at minimum like 23andme with anonymity. Add the old-style medical stuff and/or full sequencing for bonus points.

The ideal would be that I can have a friend pay cash in a physical store to get the kit. There is no account. The package includes an ID code that I may look up on the web site to get results, obviously browsing over Tor from borrowed wireless.

Currently, it looks like I'd have to actually buy the equipment myself and sequence my own DNA at home.

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