How to Delete Your Data From 23andMe, Ancestry, and Other Sites

[douglas9]

If you’ve sent a DNA sample such as a tube of spit to 23andMe, Ancestry, MyHeritage, or one of the many other companies that offer direct-to-consumer genetic testing, you’ve sent them the essential information they need to provide you with their analysis of your genetic code.

But if you later decide that you want to remove your genetic information from the web for privacy reasons, can you? And should you?

Genetic data can reveal information about your health, your risk for certain diseases, and your familial relationships—potentially including those previously unknown or undisclosed.

But deleting your genetic data is not always straightforward, according to James Hazel, Ph.D., J.D., a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Genetic Privacy and Identity in Community Settings at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

The degree to which you have control over the genetic information you’ve submitted, and even your physical DNA sample, “varies widely, depending on the company,” says Hazel, who has published research on the privacy policies of genetic testing companies.


https://www.consumerreports.org/health-privacy/how-to-delete-genetic-data-from-23andme-ancrestry-other-sites/

[donkeypoofed]

1. It's too late, those companies have already sold it

All of your genetic information was sold, minus your name (allegedly). I would never give some faceless godless corporation my genetic info ! Its only a matter of time before it's used against somebody, ie. DNA is found at a murder scene but doesn't belong to the culprit; it belongs to you ! Hope you have a good alibi. OR I'd be worried they'd be mixing my nuclear DNA with a duckbilled platypus or a moose to make some new species. Lol. I wouldn't want to risk giving my DNA away to find out stuff about long-dead relatives who dont have much to do with me anyways. Just my take, but it's kinda scary when ya think about it.

[MineralMan]

2. I'd guess that not giving them your sample is the best way to avoid the problem.

Once you do, you've done it and can't get it back. You can try, but who's to say it hasn't already been sold to other places.

It's sort of like painting your Social Security number on the siding of your house. You can paint over it later, but it's already been out there in public.

[Sherman A1]

3. Thanks for posting