Exactly. This has been no secret. They have been selling DNA information to third parties for years - and a great deal of it ends up in China. I was concerned about it over 15 years ago and did some research on the subject. The first was 23 and Me, next was Ancestry. They made money on their crappy profiles and then sold off the information to others. By signing the consent forms, an unsuspecting person, curious to find out their ethnic roots, gives the rights away over their DNA. In addition, blood collections of all newborns and others hospitalized also is handed over to third party interests by consent all under the guise of "for research" purposes without specifying exactly what that means. People do not read the fine print on those hospital consent forms.
I also do not fill out health history forms digitally. Those systems are all run by third parties and there is no guarantee of privacy. The system also gives providers an out with regards to liability if there is a breach. It is considered implied consent when using those digital systems to enter your information. It is anyone's guess who is getting access to your data. I insist on hard copy to be kept by the entity I am dealing with. It is rare these days. The last doctor's office I was in actually had to go look for the paper forms because everyone just gives in and does whatever they are asked to do without thinking about it when they use a digital format to enter their personal information.
Exactly. This has been no secret. They have been selling DNA information to third parties for years - and a great deal of it ends up in China. I was concerned about it over 15 years ago and did some research on the subject. The first was 23 and Me, next was Ancestry. They made money on their crappy profiles and then sold off the information to others. By signing the consent forms, an unsuspecting person, curious to find out their ethnic roots, gives the rights away over their DNA. In addition, blood collections of all newborns and others hospitalized also is handed over to third party interests by consent all under the guise of "for research" purposes without specifying exactly what that means. People do not read the fine print on those hospital consent forms.
I also do not fill out health history forms digitally. Those systems are all run by third parties and there is no guarantee of privacy. The system also gives providers an out with regards to liability if there is a breach. It is considered implied consent when using those digital systems to enter your information. It is anyone's guess who is getting access to your data. I insist on hard copy to be kept by the entity I am dealing with. It is rare these days. The last doctor's office I was in actually had to go look for the paper forms because everyone just gives in and does whatever they are asked to do without thinking about it when they use a digital format to enter their personal information.