This is part 1 of a science fiction/technology/know your rights series of blog
posts. The following is a true story. For this post I want you to use
your creativity and write a paragraph about what you think happens to
Sarah next. It can be anything you want based upon the information you
now have about Sarah.
Sarah hovered over the mailbox, envelope in hand. She knew as soon
as she mailed off her DNA sample, there’d be no turning back. She ran
through the information she looked up on 23andMe’s website one more
time: the privacy policy, the research parameters, the option to learn
about potential health risks, the warning that the findings could have a
dramatic impact on her life.
She paused, instinctively retracting her arm from the mailbox
opening. Would she live to regret this choice? What could she learn
about her family, herself that she may not want to know? How safe did
she really feel giving her genetic information away to be studied,
shared with others, or even experimented with?
Thinking back to her sign-up experience, Sarah suddenly worried about
the massive amount of personally identifiable information she already
handed over to the company. With a background in IT, she knew what a
juicy target hers and other customers’ data would be for a potential
hacker. Realistically, how safe was her data from a potential breach?
She tried to recall the specifics of the EULA (end-user license agreement), but the wall of legalese
text melted before her memory.
Pivoting on her heel, Sarah began to turn away from the mailbox when
she remembered just why she wanted to sign up for genetic testing in the
first place. She was compelled to learn about her own health history
after finding out she had a rare genetic disorder, Ehlers-Danlos
syndrome, and wanted to present her DNA for the purpose of further
research. In addition, she was on a mission to find her mother’s father.
She had a vague idea of who he was, but no clue how to track him down,
and believed DNA testing could lead her in the right direction.
Sarah closed her eyes and pictured her mother’s face when she told
her she found her dad. With renewed conviction, she dropped the envelope
in the mailbox. It was done.
What happens n3xt?
https://blog.malwarebytes.com/101/2018/11/dna-testing-kit-companies-really-data/
As Sarah went back to her house, she started to wonder what would happen if the results reveal something that she was better off not knowing. What if she was not able to find her mother’s father? What if she found out that she had other genetic disorders? As the weeks went by, Sarah kept thinking about the DNA test. She was just hoping that the results would bring her good news. Finally, the day came. The day in which Sarah’s DNA results arrived in the mail. Sarah quickly grabbed the letter, ran back to her house, and opened it. As she was reading it, she got good news and bad news. The good news was that she found her mother’s dad, and he is still alive. The bad news was that Sarah had another genetic disorder. She immediately showed her mom the letter and her mom was so happy that Sarah found her dad but confused as to why it said that she has another genetic disorder. They made an appointment with the doctor so they could figure out more about the genetic disorder that Sarah has. But ever since she got the letter, her phone has been showing ads for doctors and different treatments to help treat her genetic disorder. That was weird. How did her phone know what was going on in her life? After doing so further research, Sarah discovered that 23andMe had shared her information with a third party. Sarah began to write emails to the company and to her lawyers to figure out how to fix her problem. After many weeks of battling through this struggle, Sarah finally got the results she wanted, she got a full refund for the 23andMe DNA kit and 23andMe properly got rid of her information and DNA sample nobody would ever find out her information. This was a big lesson for Sarah. She now knows to never do anything risky that will put her identity and family at risk.
ReplyDeleteSarah began to regret her decision about sending her DNA sample to 23andMe. She thought about all the negative things that could occur if the wrong person gets a hold of her personal information. She looked at the mailbox, envisioning the whole world knowing everything about her. There was nothing she could do. As she was walking home, a million questions ran through her mind. What if someone hacked into the system and discovered her genetic makeup? What if someone tracked her down based on her DNA sample? What if she found out she was related to her enemy? What if she found out she was related to a horrible criminal? Sarah also thought about the positive outcomes of this situation. When she gets the results from the DNA test, she could find out where she got her rare genetic disorder from. She could also find out about her ethnicity. Sarah could even find out if she was related to a celebrity. She was most excited to potentially find her grandfather. She began to have mixed emotions about what she had done. All she could do is wait for the results. Three days later she got her results. She was nervous to see all of the facts about her history. She hesitated to click view the email. After waiting ten minutes, she decided to open the email. She found out so much information from this email. She learned that she was 32% Chinese. Sarah never would have guessed that she came from a Chinese family. She also learned that her best friend was her distant cousin. She was so excited to learn this information. The best news she discovered was about her grandfather. She learned all about him. She even discovered that her Ehlers-Danlos syndrome came from her grandfather. She was shocked. After looking through the entire email, she learned so much about herself. She was on a mission to find her grandfather. After a couple months of searching, she found him. She surprised her mom and took her to see her father. Her mother’s face was priceless when she saw her father. It was the best gift Sarah could ever ask for. Sarah agreed that submitting her DNA sample was the right choice. Months went by and no one had contacted her that her information had been stolen. Even though she was weary at first, she loved every aspect of doing the DNA test.
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