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n my shelf, I have two heavy, red volumes
titled The Eddy Family In America. They
are part of an (incomplete) set of books
that traces my entire lineage back to a boat called
the Handmaid, which landed in Plymouth Harbor
on October 29, 1630. In fact, they go back even
further, to England, 1558 or thereabouts. The
book was painstakingly researched and published
in 1930, and it’s periodically updated. It was the
work of decades, but a DNA test combined with
new investigatory techniques could have done it
in a fraction of the time. The question is, should
we worry about the privacy costs associated with
this powerful technology, or is it too late to
protect our genetic data?DNA PRIVACY
While my paternal family is very well
documented, that’s not true for everyone. But
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history is as easy as spitting in a tube. There are
even other genealogical services out there that
can connect those DNA results to more
traditional family trees, and build out a few red
books worth of information. Genetic information
is more accessible than ever, but people are really
only starting to recognize that DNA is a piece of
private information that should be protected as
steadfastly as a Social Security number.DNA Tests Expose More
Than We Think
COMMENTARY