- cross-posted to:
- hackernews@lemmy.bestiver.se
- cross-posted to:
- hackernews@lemmy.bestiver.se
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Thought it was an interesting argument even though I strongly disagree with it.
The fact is that if you’re worried about privacy, you should be far, far more concerned about all the data that various companies are hoovering up about you based on your online activity. Are you browsing the web only in private or “in cognito” mode? If not, then companies are already buying and selling tons of information about you–information that is far more revealing than a SNP chip. Do you have a Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok account? Then you can be sure that Facebook and other companies know a great deal about you
I use private browsing, VPN, avoid corporate social media, etc, but even if I didn’t this isn’t a good argument. Some sort of incel-like logic of “You fucked all those other guys, why won’t you fuck me??”
But wait, some argue: genetic information might be used to deny health care coverage! […] But even in the U.S., this fear is not a serious concern, because your SNP data reveals almost nothing useful about your health or your future risk of disease.
Apart from saying “This wouldn’t be so bad if the world was a better place”, insurance companies would love the information that 23andMe put behind the warning flag. Their own site says:
Knowing about genetic risks could also affect your ability to get some kinds of insurance.
Also also, incognito mode…. Does not hide your identity. At best, it keeps your history from being saved to your device.
Yeah, it’s sort of a basic first step at anonymity, since it’ll make sure to clear cookies and all that after you’re done browsing, but it’s hardly foolproof. Sites like this are a great demonstration of how well you can be tracked:
https://abrahamjuliot.github.io/creepjs/
(Try opening the page in separate private browsing sessions in the same browser and the fingerprint number at the top will likely be the same)
For your average person, using Tor is the best way to achieve anonymity, but a lot of sites will refuse to work with it:
https://www.torproject.org/download/
Google for example will sort-of allow it, but each query requires solving a large number of captchas, making it impractical.
I also question the ‘it’s not valid because the data doesn’t reveal any health stuff’ …. Isn’t that one of the things 23andme had as an offering? Letting you know what you were at an elevated risk of genetically? So either they are lying or the writer of the article is unaware or lying…
