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Personal data point is the new Au . The late 23andMe data breach is a utter reminder of a chilling realism — our most knowledgeable , personal information might not be as impregnable as we think . It ’s a damning indictment of the sheer negligence of companies that , while profiting from our DNA , are failing to protect it .
The 23andMe breach saw hackers gaining access to a whopping 6.9 million users ’ personal information , including kinfolk tree , birth geezerhood and geographical locations . It brings to the fore a few significant questions : Are companies really doing enough to protect our data ? Should we confide them with our most intimate entropy ?
23andMe confirms hacker stole ancestry data on 6.9 million users
society are predict to keep our information safe , but there are a couple of quirk here . Government overreach is certainly a possibility , as the FBI and every policing agency in the earth is probably salivating at the cerebration of getting access to such a huge dataset of desoxyribonucleic acid episode . It could be a gold mine for every insensate case from here to the South Pole .
The argument , “ But if you have n’t done something wrong , you have nothing to worry about ! ” is only partly applicable , here : The job is one of consent . My don at one head did a DNA exam , and come across he had a half - brother who is about to work 80 . Cue an unbelievable amount of family drama when they started jab into the chronicle and excavate a whole crowd of potentially problematic family history .
The trouble is n’t so much that my dad chose to do that , it is that I did n’t consent to being in a database , and that ’s where things get sticky . I can picture a definite Black Mirror - esque time to come , where one family appendage is rummy about their bloodline , gets tested , and two week later , the FBI comes knock on every soul ’s door who shares 50 % DNA with that someone because they are need for some sort of crime .
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The audacity of 23andMe , and companies like it , is astounding . They monger themselves as guardians of our genetic history , as the gatekeepers of our hereditary pasts and potential aesculapian future . But when the chips are down and our data is leaked , they hide behind the honest-to-god “ we were not hacked ; it was the drug user ’ old passwords ” alibi .
This logic is equivalent to a bank enunciate , “ It ’s not our fault your money got stolen ; you should have had a good curl on your front doorway . ” It ’s unacceptable and a earthy stepping down of responsibility .
Companies that deal with such raw data should be take to the highest possible touchstone . We ’re not just talking about credit carte numbers or email addresses here . This is our DNA , the very blueprint of our existence . If anything should be considered “ sacred ” in the digital realm , for certain it should be this ?
The fact that the stolen data point was advertised as a listing of people with lineage that have , in the past , been victims of systemic discrimination , adds another disturbing layer to this debacle . It highlights the potential for such datum to be misapply in the most villainous ways , include direct attacks and favouritism .
23andMe order hackers accessed ‘ pregnant phone number ’ of data file about users ’ bloodline
The deoxyribonucleic acid testing industry involve to ill-treat up . It must see to it that the security measures in place are not just adequate , but exceptional . They should be take the charge in cybersecurity , setting an example for all other industries to survey .
This is not just about safe passwords or two - broker authentication . This is about a fundamental shift in how these companies view the data they are entrusted with . It ’s about recognize the unplumbed responsibility they have , not just to their customers , but to bon ton at large .
Am I hopeful ? Not even a little . I ’ve long argued that after the Equifax breach , the company should have obtain the corporate equivalent of the dying penalty . Instead , it was move over a $ 700 million fine . I think that ’s laughable . take into account a breach of such a order of magnitude to even be potential , never mind really occur to pass ? You do n’t deserve to stay to be a troupe . I think that is even truer for company care with our DNA .
It ’s clock time for 23andMe and the DNA testing industry as a whole to realize that they are not just dealing with data . They are dealing with mass ’s life history , their histories and their futures . It ’s sentence they started treating our data with the respect and care it deserves .
