There are a couple of people I know who sent away to get their genetic results from 23andMe. Basically for them it was just curiosity. Okay, whatever.
For some others it seems to have been a way to prove they weren't white, or at least not just white. The year 2020 and a few of the other years surrounding it saw a peak in the idea that being part of a "privileged" group was inherently shameful. Finding stray chromosomes that might belong to some other group was a way to ride the identity train without doing weird gender stuff.
Now the company is going bankrupt and erstwhile customers are worried about their data security. There's a lesson here. We're all better off just treating race as irrelevant rather than trying to litigate it.
2 comments:
I never could understand why anyone would allow 23andME to test something as personal as DNA - never mind paying to obtain the results. Although commercial genetic testing was promoted as being beneficial to humanity it was likely developed for a meaner purpose - such as determining haplotypes that could target particular ethnic groups. While a number of people were attempting to prove they belonged to a more preferable race than plain old unfashionable white, what they're learning now is they come from a long line of morons.
I liked the part where they assert their privacy policy says they have to follow the rules, which sounds good, until you see the existing privacy policy says it can be changed at any time.
I seem to recall a time not long ago when race was irrelevant. I must have been busy elsewhere the day that changed.
The gene tech business is chock full of snake oil salesmen peddling outrageous claims. Sometimes it's relatively harmless. The company claiming to have brought the dire wolf back has done no such thing but thus far it seems to be just showmanship. Other endeavors are more sinister. The idea that a company would be collecting the genetic information for as much of the world's population as they could get and only had good or innocuous intentions is clueless when you think about it.
The "we reserve the right to change our protocols at any time for any reason or no reason" policy is common as dirt now. Everyone wants to be Darth Vader ("Pray I do not alter them further") but they don't have the style.
I wonder how many people have made up reasons to keep race around because they aren't ready to let it go. Seems like a lot, and also seems unhealthy.
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