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Comments (120)

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  ahmedfromtunis
  To be honest, this is more like "requesting the data to be deleted". There's nothing that guarantees that the personal information will be physically wiped out of the hard drives used to store them.
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  tonymet
  For those curious about what actual data they are recording, they use Infinium Global Screening Array which records about 650-750k SNPs (single-nucleotide-polymorphisms) .Obviously this data infers heritage, disease risk, relations. It could be used for discrimination, surveillance, potentially poisoning .Everyone should request their data to be deleted, but this is an engineering forum, and we know what that means in practice. Every company like this has hundreds of copies of the data, and has shared it with dozens of providers.Like Rev Tevia said, you can't put the feathers back into an opened pillow.
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  YooLi
  This feels as hopeless as trying to keep your email/contacts from social media sites. Even if you are vigilant about never allowing an app/service to download your contacts, your friends will share theirs and it is trivial to recreate your contact list. If I keep my DNA from these companies, my relatives will share theirs and they basically have my DNA.
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  brian-armstrong
  The distinction isn't super important, but 23andMe doesn't have your whole genome, just some specific locations from it. Roughly 750k base pairs or so.https://www.quora.com/How-much-of-the-genome-does-23andMe-se...
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  randomNumber7
  Hello, I was sent back from the future to tell you there is already a backup.
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  drdaeman
  Note that despite any requests the genetic data and some personal information (DOB and sex) probably won't be deleted, at least because of CLIA requirements: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41781879 (more details in https://bourniquelaw.com/2024/10/09/data-23-and-me/, linked from the thread there)
• biker142541
  I've been a broken record about the implications of sending DNA to a corporation for 20 years... it's hard not to have seen this coming.
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  rglover
  The data has already been sold off to the real customers (i.e., not you and me) [1]. You can (and should) request a deletion, but the damage has already been done.[1] https://gizmodo.com/23andme-is-selling-your-data-but-not-how...
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  partiallypro
  I know I'm in the vast minority here, but I honestly don't really care what is done with my DNA data as long as it's not used against me for healthcare & insurance purposes (which I believe is already illegal.) If someone wants to use it to make new drugs, research, etc, I just don't care.
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  nickjj
  I never made an account there or uploaded anything DNA related but what happens if a relative did? Is there the concept of a "ghost" account that gets filled in for people who didn't sign up yet but is likely related? Can this be deleted without making an account?
• Boogie_Man
  Me trying to sequence ppls genomes in my basement doesn't seem so bad now.
• ashoeafoot
  Oh, the scams i have to show you, such sights to behold :"Dear Sir,Madamwhile reading a recently acquired db, i came across your brother in law who has disease xy. Now, me being a decent person, i kept things qiet for now. No need to rattle potential love interests , your children or the community with news about this genetic curse. If you want this silence to last, just subscribe by donating 0.01 bitcoin per year to the Mammal & Animal Foundation for Integrity Agency."This right here is the chernobyll of privacy.
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  ks2048
  Has anyone tried to export their ancestry data? I've notice the PDF summary lists broad regions, but the data in the App shows more details (e.g. specific counties of countries). Anyone know how to export that data? I'll just take some screenshots, but maybe this info is somewhere else in the export.
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  windsignaling
  Is anyone having trouble downloading their data? Some data, such as "Raw Data", "Imputed Genotype Data R6", and "Phased Genotype Data" need to be requested, but I haven't heard back from them yet.Would like to download everything first before requesting deletion.
• yoaviram
  Better yet, send them a legally binding data deletion request (if you live in a jurisdiction that has strong data protection laws):https://yourdigitalrights.org/d/23andme.com
• hermannj314
  I never used 23andme, my brother did, so I get the pleasure of having no legal recourse but all of my data stolen anyway.I am sorry to all of you that gave your family DNA to a SV startup.It must suck to feel like you have no say in what happens to your private information.
• anon
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• pmarreck
  Why? If it's already out there, it's kind of too late, is it not?
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  rohan_
  If 23andMe is bounded by the legal system - why shouldn't we trust them the same way we trust Dropbox not to sell our personal files?No one has been able to explain this to me.
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  TuringNYC
  Not sure if others are having this problem, but my login no longer works, and password-reset emails never arrive (tried three times on three days w/o success)
• anon
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• ineedasername
  Delete? How then will I get to hang out with Roko after regenerative AI incorporates their data into its training corpus?
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  hammock
  How do we know it hasn’t already been sold at least once? The OMG expose makes me think
• johnnyballgame
  I just can't understand who in their right mind, and is even remotely concerned about the privacy of their personal information, would upload their own DNA to a business. An internet-based one at that. Lemmings, I tell ya.
• anon
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• isjustintime
  Hah, yes. I used to work at a company that sold a popular DNA product. I built part of the GDPR data deletion pipeline. During my last week there, I submitted a request to delete my data from the systems. The final integration test!
• juunpp
  Isn't this one of the stupidest versions of capitalism?
• arduanika
  If only there had been some way to see this coming.
• StefanBatory
  It's a matter of time until some neo-Nazis get access into DNA databases to look for Jews, won't it?
• dineol
  lol do you really think they will delete your data?)