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What You’re Really Agreeing to When You Sign Up for 23andMe Research

posted by martyb on Monday August 06 2018, @04:05PM   Printer-friendly
from the How-do-anonymize-DNA? dept.

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for BoyceMagooglyMonkey

23andMe has reached a deal with pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline, giving the company access to their (your) genetic data to potentially develop new drugs. Did they just sell us all out? Not exactly.

This isn't the first deal where 23andMe has allowed companies to use their (your) data for their research. The company makes up to $199 when you buy one of their spit kits and send in your DNA, but their business model has always depended on leveraging the data they amass as a result. The company has previously made similar, though smaller, deals with Genentech and Pfizer.

[...] The company doesn't technically hand over your data; analysts at 23andMe provide "summary statistics" to third parties. This is relatively safe, in theory, but if you're not sure how you feel about it, just click "Change Consent" under your account settings.

Source: https://vitals.lifehacker.com/what-you-re-really-agreeing-to-when-you-sign-up-for-23a-1828034397

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  • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday August 07 2018, @03:26PM

    by Freeman (732) on Tuesday August 07 2018, @03:26PM (#718288) Journal

    I'm pretty sure they can tell the difference between human and non-human DNA. Then, toss out the non-human DNA. Otherwise, that's some serious kind of data pollution.

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