With 23 and Me getting into selling information for added revenue, the privacy of DNA testing providers makes me not want to use the service. Can anyone recommend a privacy focused DNA testing company that has a good track record?
By the kit with cash, set up a digital identity using a burner email, maybe even a burner cell phone. Mail it in from a different city. Only use a VPN to check the results.
Also with Ancestry (dunno if 23&me does it), you can opt out of all their suggested extra opt ins, download your raw data and then request them to destroy your sample and delete your account.
The data is stored forever. There have been warrants from law enforcement that somehow miraculously turned over deleted information.
Cops are using and abusing the system submitting requests for every case, cold or not. Easiest way to get a name is from a giant private database where everyone has sent in DNA samples…
Why hasn’t Ancestry been sued then? I know there were issues around GEDmatch a while ago (never used them) in terms of privacy. Nothing I’ve read in Ancestry’s Privacy Statement says that they can legally retain data after you’ve requested deletion for an indefinite time. Are you sure it’s Ancestry you’re thinking of and not another company?
Isn’t the whole point of those to take private information, cross-reference it with other stolen private data and give you results based on that? Doesn’t seem so compatible with privacy.