It’s interesting and sometimes helpful to get the results from DNA testing (like from a company like Ancestry.com) You see where your ancestors lived, who you’re related to and even if you are predisposed to a certain disease.Sometimes surrendering your saliva, however, may also mean surrendering some privacy.
Attorney Amos Waranch of Waranch/Nunn says when you send in your sample, you are giving your permission for the company to distribute the data to groups that buy it. Waranch says a subpoena is necessary for law enforcement, but there are other concerns.“I’m also concerned about them sharing the information to health insurers or life insurers…and having an underwriter being really interested with knowing if a potential client is predisposed to having a particular disease further along in life.”
“The companies want the data. The data is valuable. They can sell it for market research or epidemiology research and projects like that,” says Waranch. And remember by spitting into a tube you -- by default – you are also including your parents and siblings. And what about data breaches and also job recruiters who want to know if you have any predispositions to disease.It could get sticky.