Thread by @TransWorldView

If you got a DNA test for Christmas, I'm urging you to reconsider taking it. You're potentially exposing yourself to massive personal and financial risks.

And you can potentially harm discriminated-against populations including disabled people.

[thread 1/17]
#23AndMe #Ancestry

Your immediate financial risk is if the DNA test reveals anything about your predisposition to certain conditions, when you apply for health insurance, the company can reject your claim if you don't reveal those conditions.

Then you can get charged more if you do reveal
[2/17]

Also, if you take a test, you are giving away private biometric data not only affecting yourself, but your relatives. Now that your child knows you're pre-disposed to a condition, that can affect their insurance too
[3/17]

Now, each of these companies have their own privacy policy, but each can be 40+ pages long, and ultimately all of them are asking you to sign over massive amounts of personal information, which they are profiting massively off of.
[4/17]
latimes.com/business/techn…

There's also the incredibly shady business practices in the DNA Industry. 23andMe used a loophole to have their research excluded from regulations around testing done of human subjects. Releasing them from all sorts of ethics concerns
[5/17]

Normal research on human subjects involves a researcher explaining everything about the study and asking consent along the way, ensuring everything is clearly understood.

The DNA kits come with numerous policies of 40 pages or more, with consent given by a mere click.
[6/17]

Even if you believe some of the drugs these companies are creating are helpful, there's massive potential for abuse for using this data to try to eradicate "undesirable" traits from the gene pool.

Many people currently support eradicating autistic people & trans people.
[7/17]

Just look at the outcry that occurred when a UK company announced the "Spectrum 10K" project to collect autistic people's DNA.

Countless people warned of the threat of eugenics, and their protests (#StopSpectrum10k) led to the study being stopped
[8/17]
nature.com/articles/d4158…

If you have qualms about what companies like Google or Facebook are doing with your data, then you should be majorly concerned with DNA testing companies. And the CEO of 23andMe has close ties to Google. All these companies have collaborated with the intelligence community
[9/17]

Conservative lawmakers are working to strip away any privacy protections you may have thought you had regarding your DNA, and are eager to hand this data over to law enforcement and intelligence agencies
[10/17]
floridapolitics.com/archives/45623…

Given the rise of white supremacist organizations and fascism, do you really want to give law enforcement yet more tools to crack down on #BlackLivesMatter activists and other social justice activists?
[11/17]

The Biden administration is currently considering many anti-fascists, anarchists, and activists who oppose capitalism a domestic terror threat.

If you're any kind of leftist, you really should reconsider giving away your DNA
[12/17]
politico.com/news/2021/07/2…

Data mining companies are already partnering with US intelligence agencies.

Imagine how much US intelligence programs designed to monitor and crush activists could benefit from data mined by DNA companies. Just look at the history of COINTELPRO:
redemmas.org/titles/11873-t…
[13/17]

Also, any database can be hacked. Think of how many people from minority populations could be targeted using their genetic data.

We could even see DNA-specific bioweapons created.
[14/17]

And these companies have admitted openly that they have a Eurocentric business practice, and have lacked people of color in leadership roles: statnews.com/2020/06/10/23a…
[15/17]

As this article jokingly suggests, perhaps giving a pair of socks is a better gift than a DNA test. Having received both this Christmas, I generally agree:
internethealthreport.org/2019/23-reason…
[16/17]

Here's a video about some of the scarier possible risks of how your data might be used, which I especially recommend watching if you're an activist:

[17/17]