The combination of genetic and personal information collected from social media can provide "a pretty comprehensive picture of an individual," Caulfield said in an interview with CBC News. The revelation underscores a big question raised by privacy experts about the wisdom of giving up genetic information to a private organization: Who else might end up having access to it? Alberta's privacy commissioner, Jill Clayton, warns unlike other breaches involving other personal data, you can't change your genetic code. But that doesn't eliminate the risk of potential breaches, and — unlike other personal information such as credit card numbers — genetic information is in a class all its own. Ancestry also said DNA data is not sold to insurers, employers, health providers or third-party marketers.

Source: CBC News April 24, 2018 07:52 UTC