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These regulations are a good idea, but there still seems to be some holes in the new laws. For instance, health information is not the only thing you can get from your DNA:
For example with the wholesale collection of DNA the government, or any company that so wished, could compile a DNA fingerprint database or trace your ancestry. It's not clear how the new regulations would apply to this. Perhaps the best way to stop companies/governments abusing genetic information, is to not only protect the information, but not let them have it in the first place.
Yes, I agree, and as we've blogged here before, some of these other, non-health-related databases are already in existence (and plans are for them to get bigger). Hard to imagine that convergence, whether wholesale or case-by-case, will *not* occur. Moreover, though many people worry about the confidentiality of health-related genetic data, the same information may be retained by non-health entities that aren't subject to HIPAA or other kinds of regulatory requirements.
These regulations are a good idea, but there still seems to be some holes in the new laws. For instance, health information is not the only thing you can get from your DNA:
ReplyDeletehttp://dnatestingguides.com/2008/05/what-is-dna-testing/
For example with the wholesale collection of DNA the government, or any company that so wished, could compile a DNA fingerprint database or trace your ancestry.
It's not clear how the new regulations would apply to this. Perhaps the best way to stop companies/governments abusing genetic information, is to not only protect the information, but not let them have it in the first place.
Yes, I agree, and as we've blogged here before, some of these other, non-health-related databases are already in existence (and plans are for them to get bigger). Hard to imagine that convergence, whether wholesale or case-by-case, will *not* occur. Moreover, though many people worry about the confidentiality of health-related genetic data, the same information may be retained by non-health entities that aren't subject to HIPAA or other kinds of regulatory requirements.
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