23andMe joined forces with non-profit organization <a href="https://fpf.org/about/">Future of Privacy Forum</a> along with Ancestry, Helix, and other leading personal genetic testing companies to issue a new Privacy Best Practices for Consumer Genetic Testing Services.
&nbsp;
The document offers a policy framework for protecting consumer information, as well as guidelines for the collection, protection, sharing and use of genetic data generated from consumer genetic testing.
&nbsp;
“Everyone who participates in a genetic testing service deserves to have their information protected, no matter which service or product they use,” said Kate Black, 23andMe’s Global Privacy Officer. “It&#8217;s imperative that all consumer genetic testing companies adhere to comprehensive privacy protections, and clearly communicate their policies to consumers in a transparent manner.”
&nbsp;
Much of the fundamental tenets of the policy are already core to <a href="https://www.23andme.com/privacy/">23andMe’s privacy protections for consumers</a>.
&nbsp;
&#8220;With over a decade of experience as a leader in consumer genetic testing, we&#8217;ve built incredibly strong privacy practices,” Kate said. “We are happy to now work with the industry and an organization like the FPF to solidify best practices, and help ensure proper protection of consumers&#8217; genetic information more broadly.&#8221;
&nbsp;
Find out more <a href="https://fpf.org/2018/07/31/future-of-privacy-forum-and-leading-genetic-testing-companies-announce-best-practices-to-protect-privacy-of-consumer-genetic-data/">here</a>.
&nbsp;
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/FPF-Genetics-Infographic-FINAL.jpg" alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-26396" width="792" height="612" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/FPF-Genetics-Infographic-FINAL.jpg 792w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/FPF-Genetics-Infographic-FINAL-300x232.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/FPF-Genetics-Infographic-FINAL-768x593.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 792px) 100vw, 792px" />

23andMe Blog

23andMe Blog Team

Best Practices for Protecting Consumers’ Privacy

A new survey found that most Americans are interested in using DNA testing to understand more about their health and ancestry, but the national survey also revealed a need for better education around the science of genetics.
Commissioned by 23andMe, the survey found that people had a strong interest in genetics, but that interest was out ahead of their understanding of the science. Many people still struggle with basic genetic concepts, according to the survey. This gap in genetic literacy follows similar findings around the need for improved <a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/09/10/what-the-public-knows-and-does-not-know-about-science/">science literacy in the United States</a>.
Thao Do, PhD, 23andMe Education and Academia Program Manager, sees that gap between interest in genetics and knowledge about genetics as an opportunity, for engaging with people on the science.
“It presents an opportunity to educate people in fun and interesting ways,” said Thao.
Genetic testing itself offers people an engaging way not just to learn more about their health and ancestry, but also the science behind their results.
The survey offered some striking contrasts between people expressing a strong desire to tap into potential insights obtained by genetic testing, while at the same time illustrating that they did not fully understand the science behind the tests. For example, nearly three-fourths of those surveyed (74 percent) said they were interested in testing, but about the same percentage of people (75 percent) didn’t know that humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes.
But most most Americans, about 77 percent, know that genetics plays a role in the risk for certain diseases, and about 90 percent of respondents knew that DNA testing could inform them about their ancestry. The vast majority of Americans, 94 percent, said that whether it is information about their health, or ancestry, or traits, that they feel they have a right to at-home DNA testing to directly access this type of genetic information.
23andMe partnered with Kelton Global to generate the 23andMe DNA Survey, which was conducted between July 5th, 2017 and July 12th, 2017 among 1,000 nationally representative Americans ages 18+, using an e-mail invitation and an online survey, with a margin of error of +/- 3.1%.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-25728" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Survey-Infographic-facts-fix.jpg" alt="" width="2667" height="9140" />

23andMe Asks About DNA

By James Rathmell, 23andMe Privacy Fellow

Our mission at 23andMe is to help people access, understand and benefit from the human genome. One <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-6586" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/23andMe_Logo_blog-200x200.jpg" alt="23andMe_Logo_blog" width="200" height="200" />way we do this is by giving community members the ability to connect with distant and close genetic relatives with our sharing tools. We have two main tools you can use to compare your DNA and connect with others: “Share and Compare” and “DNA Relatives.”


It’s important when using these tools to think about your genetic privacy and be mindful about how you share your information. This post explains how the tools work, discusses what you should think about when using them, and shows you the tools you can use to control how your information is shared.
<h6>
Share and Compare</h6>

With Share and Compare, you can share your reports directly with close family and friends to examine <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-24591" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Share-and-Compare-Selection-300x188.png" alt="share-and-compare-selection" width="300" height="188" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Share-and-Compare-Selection-300x188.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Share-and-Compare-Selection.png 619w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />genetic differences. When you open Share and Compare, you’ll see a family tree. By clicking on the different relationships, you can invite family to view your 23andMe results – even if they haven’t been genotyped.
You can also share your results with friends and more distant relatives.
When you invite someone to share results, you have two options: you can either share all of your reports, including health and segment-level data, or share only your ancestry results. Sharing goes both ways; that is, if you share all of your reports with another customer, not only can they see all of your reports, but you can see all of their reports.
Under “Manage Connections,” you can review all of the connections you have. By clicking on a connection, you can change your sharing level or choose to remove the connection.
<a href="https://you.23andme.com/tutorials/share_compare/">Click here</a> to see the Share and Compare tutorial.

<h6>
DNA Relatives</h6>

DNA Relatives (DNAR) allows you to find and connect with the broader community of 23andMe members to <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-24595 size-medium" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/DNA-Relatives-Home-People-View-300x232.jpg" alt="dna-relatives-home-people-view" width="300" height="232" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/DNA-Relatives-Home-People-View-300x232.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/DNA-Relatives-Home-People-View-768x594.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/DNA-Relatives-Home-People-View-1024x792.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/DNA-Relatives-Home-People-View-880x680.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/DNA-Relatives-Home-People-View-1180x912.jpg 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/DNA-Relatives-Home-People-View.jpg 1261w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />discover shared genetics, relationships, and family history. If you choose to participate in DNAR, you have a number of different options, which you can change any time by clicking on Update DNA Relatives Preferences.
Your DNAR setting decisions only impact what information is viewable within the tool. It does not affect your broader 23andMe privacy settings.

<ul>
<li>Open Sharing. If you participate in Open Sharing, you will share your full name, ancestry reports, and overlapping DNA segments with all of your DNA relatives. You can also compare your results with any of your DNA relatives that are also participating in Open Sharing. If you don’t participate in Open Sharing, you can choose to send individual sharing requests to anyone whose reports you want to compare with.</li>
<li>Display Name. If you are participating in Open Sharing, your full name will be displayed. If you are not participating in Open Sharing, you can choose to display just your first name and last initial (Jane S), just your first initial and last name (J Smith), or just your initials (JS).
</li>
<li>
Enhanced Profile Settings (Optional). You can also choose to provide additional information to help other members find you and make connections. For example, you could add a family surname, the birth country of a grandparent, or a summary of your interests.
Once you’ve made connections on DNAR – either by participating in Open Sharing or by making individual connections – you can use the DNA tab to compare your connections to one another. This also means that any of your connections can compare you to any of their other connections, whether or not the other connections participate in DNAR.</li>
</ul>
<h6>
Other Ways of Sharing</h6>

Your genetic data is yours to benefit from, explore, and understand. With this in mind, we offer tools for you to export and print your raw data and reports.
There are many different websites and apps that will allow you to upload your raw genetic data to connect with new communities or receive different types of genetic reports. You may also want to discuss your results with a healthcare professional. Or you might want to share some of our fun traits reports on social media. Anytime you export or share information, though, it’s always important to think about who the intended audience is, and to consider the impact on yourself and relatives especially when sharing sensitive insights.

<h6>
Taking Control of Your Genetic Privacy</h6>
You can easily edit your Share and Compare and DNAR settings from your Account Settings page. If you don’t want to receive invitations from other community members, you can block all invitations. You can also view and manage all of your connections to change sharing levels or to remove connections. It’s worth reviewing these settings once or twice a year, and taking a look at your existing connections so that you have a full picture you’re sharing genetic results with. Sharing genetic results is incredibly exciting, and you can learn a great deal about yourself by connecting with close and distant relatives. However, it’s important to be thoughtful about sharing your information. Here’s a quick checklist of things to keep in mind.
<ul>
<li>
Have you thought about how sensitive information could impact others? When using Share and Compare, DNAR, or sharing your results elsewhere, there’s always the chance that you could learn something about yourself or your family – such as sensitive health information – that could be upsetting. Please be sensitive to others&#8217; right to choose for themselves whether they would like to know this kind of information. Ask the people you are considering sharing with if they’re okay learning more about your genetic reports.
</li>
<li>
Have you thought about what kind of information other people can learn about you? Whenever you give someone else access to your data – genetic data or not – there’s always the risk that they might choose to share it with others. While unlikely, it’s also possible that your connections could learn additional sensitive information about your genetics if you share segments with third parties. Think about what kinds of information you would be comfortable with others learning about you whenever using any sharing tools on 23andMe or elsewhere.
</li>
<li>
Are you comfortable with security and privacy of other apps/websites? Before you upload your raw genetic data to a new site or app, make sure you’re confident that they have strong security and that they will protect your privacy.
</li>
<li>
Have you talked about sharing with family and friends with profiles on your account? If you have several people sharing an account, and you choose to connect with someone, you can choose which profiles in the account to share. Ask the other people who share your account if it’s okay to share their results.
</li>
<li>
Have you thought about your legal rights? The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) prohibits the use of genetic information to determine health insurance eligibility or premiums or for employment decisions such as hiring, firing, pay, and promotion. But, the law does not address other potential uses of genetic information, such as for determining eligibility and premiums for long term care insurance or life insurance. This is particularly important to think about with Share and Compare, and when using your genetic data on other apps and websites. Since you share genes with your family, you may want to consider how information you post could impact them as well.</li>
</ul>

James Rathmell

Sharing and Protecting Your Genetic Information

<div class="copy-paste-block">By Kate Black and Zerina Curevac*</div>
<div class="copy-paste-block"></div>
<div class="copy-paste-block">Since our founding a decade ago, 23andMe has only received requests from law enforcement for information regarding five of our more than 1.2 million customers. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Privacy-275x300.jpg" alt="" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-23677" width="275" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Privacy-275x300.jpg 275w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Privacy.jpg 636w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 275px) 100vw, 275px" /></div>
<div class="copy-paste-block"></div>
<div class="copy-paste-block">In each of these cases, 23andMe successfully resisted the request and protected our customers’ data from release to law enforcement.</div>
<div class="copy-paste-block"></div>
<div class="copy-paste-block">While receiving and responding to law enforcement requests is not a common occurrence at 23andMe like it might be at some large tech companies, customer privacy and trust are at the core of our approach to the issue.</div>
We believe a key part of maintaining that trust is keeping customers informed and answering their questions about data security and privacy, so we’d like to  take this opportunity to answer some of the most commonly asked questions from our customers.
<h4>
Why would law enforcement be interested in my genetic data? </h4>
Law enforcement agencies are interested in genetic information because it may help identify individuals who are the focus of an investigation. The federal government manages the Combined DNA Index System (“CODIS”), a database comprised of the genetic information of convicted offenders and arrestees, collected by state and federal law enforcement agencies. Typically, law enforcement officers will collect DNA from an unknown suspect at a crime scene and compare it to CODIS to see if they can match it to a convicted offender or arrestee profile. If the unknown suspect matches an individual in CODIS, law enforcement can obtain the identity of the suspected perpetrator. If a search fails to return a match, law enforcement can run an additional search of CODIS called a “familial search.”
Unlike a routine database search, a familial search can  potentially identify close biological relatives to the unknown profile obtained from crime scene evidence. By finding close relatives of an unknown suspect, law enforcement may be able to locate the unknown suspect and solve the crime. If no direct matches or familial matches are found in CODIS, law enforcement sometimes turn to privately owned databases in search of a match.


The Electronic Frontier Foundation <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/05/how-private-dna-data-led-idaho-cops-wild-goose-chase-and-linked-innocent-man-20">reported</a> on such a situation in May 2015, where police in Idaho tried to identify a suspect for a cold case murder using a publicly searchable Ancestry.com database. The public database allowed detectives to identify an unknown suspect because the suspect’s father had donated his DNA sample to the database years prior. Ultimately, the identified suspect was cleared as a false positive.

<h4>
Is my 23andMe data likely to be useful to law enforcement or the government? 
</h4>

There are a number of technical and legal reasons that 23andMe data is highly unlikely to be useful to law enforcement, and we’d like to highlight a couple of the most important ones.


First, 23andMe’s tests are of little use to law enforcement or government because they cannot technically be matched against the information in CODIS or other governmental databases. 23andMe’s genealogy tests use a genotyping technology that produces markers for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), but  law enforcement use a different kind of DNA test that uses markers known as short tandem repeats. This makes comparing the two very difficult. One way to think about the difference between the tests is that 23andMe’s test focuses on how you are like other people, while forensic tests focus on how you are different from other people.


If law enforcement presented a scenario in which SNP information was useful to a case, it’s still unlikely that it would be admitted into any legal proceedings for a number of reasons. One reason is a legal principle known as “chain of custody” which requires that a piece of evidence is what it claims to be, or that evidence collected can be reliably connected to a specific individual in order to use it in court. Genetic data collected by 23andMe fails to meet the chain of custody requirement.
Our service is offered online, and as a result, we can’t precisely authenticate an individual’s identity when they use our service. In other words, we don’t have any means to “reliably connect” any particular DNA sample to an individual.
We have been successful in communicating these, and other, limitations to law enforcement agents when they contact us.  Once law enforcement officials see both the legal and technical limitations of attempting to use the data, they have backed off of their requests.  As a result 23andMe has not released any data to law enforcement to date. We will continue to vigorously protect the privacy and security of our customers’ data. Those protections for customers remain at the core of what we do.

<h4>
What is 23andMe doing to protect my data? </h4>
Every company must decide how to respond if and when law enforcement officers request information about their customers. 23andMe unequivocally chooses to use all practical legal and administrative resources to resist requests from law enforcement, and we do not share customer data with any public databases, or with entities that may increase the risk of law enforcement access.
<h4>
What are the limitations of 23andMe&#8217;s data protection efforts? 
</h4>

While we will continue to do everything in our power to protect our customer’s information, we also think it’s important to be transparent about our limitations. As stated in our Privacy Statement, we may ultimately be required by law to comply with a valid court order, subpoena, or search warrant for genetic or personal information. We can’t speculate on what future scenarios might bring rise to such disclosures, but we will notify the affected individual(s) through the contact information they have provided to us in advance of any disclosure to law enforcement, unless doing so would violate the law or a court order.

<h4>
How can I keep track of 23andMe’s releases to law enforcement? 
</h4>

We stay accountable and transparent to our customers via our <a href="https://www.23andme.com/transparency-report/">Transparency Report</a>, which details the law enforcement requests we have received and our responses.
Should you have any additional questions or concerns, please feel free to email us at privacy@23andMe.com.
*
Kate Black is 23andMe&#8217;s Privacy Officer and Corporate Counsel, while Zerina Curevac is a 23andMe legal intern.

Kate Black

23andPrivacy: Your Data and Law Enforcement

By Kate Black, 
23andMe Privacy Officer and Corporate Counsel<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-23017 size-medium" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Kate-Black-preferred-200x300.jpg" alt="Kate Black preferred" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Kate-Black-preferred-200x300.jpg 200w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Kate-Black-preferred.jpg 576w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />
In January, I joined 23andMe to oversee the privacy and security of our customers’ information. I am responsible for coordinating the many teams and team members across 23andMe who manage our website, conduct scientific research, and provide customer support to ensure that customer information remains appropriately safeguarded and secure. 
<h6>Privacy Center</h6>
I’ve had the exciting opportunity to elevate privacy and data protection practices in our newly redesigned website experience. As a part of that effort, we’ve built a new, easy to read <a href="https://www.23andme.com/privacy/">privacy center</a>, which contains some helpful information about 23andMe’s approach to privacy and security.
We’ve also updated our <a href="https://www.23andme.com/about/tos/">terms of service</a> and <a href="https://www.23andme.com/about/privacy/">privacy statement</a> to support our improved product.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-23111 size-medium" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/lock-217x300.jpg" alt="lock" width="217" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/lock-217x300.jpg 217w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/lock-636x880.jpg 636w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/lock.jpg 709w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 217px) 100vw, 217px" />
I also spend time talking with 23andMe customers and potential customers about privacy and security related issues.
<h6>A Few Key Issues</h6>
Most people I speak with say they are concerned about the privacy of their genetic and personal information when signing up for and using 23andMe.
Specifically, individuals identify three main concerns:
<ol>
<li>How to manage sharing settings within 23andMe.com, including how and when other members can see their personal information within the our website.</li>
<li>How 23andMe uses customer information to conduct genetic research.</li>
<li>When and if third parties, such as family members, law enforcement, or insurance companies can get access to their information.</li>
</ol>
Over the next several months, I will dive deeper into each of these topics and others on this blog in an effort to be as transparent as possible about how 23andMe manages, shares, and protects our customers’ information.
I believe we have a responsibility to educate and inform our customers about how they can make meaningful choices regarding their information, and empower individuals to make the right choices for themselves and their families.
In the meantime, I hope you will take a moment to explore 23andMe’s new privacy <a href="https://www.23andme.com/privacy/">materials</a>.
Please also feel free to email us at <a href="mailto:privacy@23andme.com">privacy@23andme.com</a> if you have any questions or want more information about our privacy practices. 
We understand that your trust is vital to our business, and it’s my number one priority to earn that trust.

23andPrivacy

We can’t tell you the breakout bands or best films from this year’s South By Southwest, but we can tell you that new ideas around digital health – including 23andMe’s use of big data to power research – drove a lot of the most interesting discussions on the interactive side of the festival.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-20629" alt="anne before interview copy" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/anne-before-interview-copy-199x300.jpg" width="199" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/anne-before-interview-copy-199x300.jpg 199w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/anne-before-interview-copy-768x1155.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/anne-before-interview-copy-681x1024.jpg 681w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/anne-before-interview-copy-585x880.jpg 585w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/anne-before-interview-copy-784x1180.jpg 784w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/anne-before-interview-copy.jpg 1330w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 199px) 100vw, 199px" />
23andMe’s CEO and co-founder Anne Wojcicki delivered one of the more popular keynotes. While she tried to answer most of the questions directed to her through Twitter using the #AskAnne hashtag, she ran out of time quickly. So we went back through the more than 100 queries to answer the most frequently asked questions.
<h6>What about the FDA?</h6>
The biggest question, the one that’s been dominating our work over the last few months, asked by many on Twitter was summed up by Armin Molvai (@amolavi), who asked: “Can you share and update on what’s happening with the FDA?”
Back in November, the FDA ordered 23andMe to stop returning health results to new customers, pending completion of a regulatory process, that requires submitting applications that detail the validity of the testing and science behind health results returned to customers. How long that process will take is hard to say, but Anne made clear that 23andMe is still deeply invested in seeing it through.
“My main priority is a resolution with the FDA,” she<a href="https://venturebeat.com/2014/03/12/23andme-ceo-we-need-to-return-to-delivering-health-information/"> told Venture Beat</a> writer Christina Farr after her keynote. “We’re not going to switch gears and become an ancestry company, although that’s a huge market on its own. We need to return to delivering health information.”
<h6>Working through the Process</h6>
Knowing how the FDA process has changed what 23andMe can offer new customers, Melissa Green (@mgreenvml) asked on Twitter how that will impact the company’s ongoing research.
Anne’s message on that was that not only is the company continuing to do research, but 23andMe is also tackling new areas of study. 
<iframe loading="lazy" width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/6A4wtpHZCQI" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0"></iframe>
“We have 650,000 people in our database and are being inundated with requests from academics and foreign partners,” she said. “We have more of this data than anyone else in the world.”
The mission of the company has always been about changing health care and empowering people with their genetic information. And 23andMe’s research is central to that mission, Anne said.
<h6>Research</h6>
With 23andMe people can learn about themselves while helping to power important genetic research. Most of our customers consent to research. Collectively those customers have answered more than 170 million survey questions that in turn helps fuel research that now extends to more than 230 different studies looking at 1,000 different conditions that span everything from Parkinson’s disease to motion sickness. That’s the kind of research that could not be accomplished using traditional methods
While many at the conference could easily grasp the power 23andMe’s big data to speed research, some others were concerned about privacy around that data and, “how (23andMe is) protecting this database?”
Anne’s response was that research is done using data that is made anonymous, that the company adheres to strict security protocols. And our research is overseen by an independent “Institutional Review Board” that objectively looks out for the interests of those who consent to research. In the end, Anne pointed out that customers can opt-out of research at any time, download their data and close their account.
“One of the reasons we went direct to consumer is so that you own the data,” she said. “And if you then want to share it that’s your right.”

More From SXSW #AskAnne

In an effort to extend the state’s privacy protections to people’s genetic material, California State Senator <a href="http://dist20.casen.govoffice.com/">Alex Padilla</a> D-Pacoima recently introduced the California Genetic Information Privacy Act.
Last year, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law <a href="../2011/09/07/california-governor-signs-law-to-protect-against-genetic-discrimination/">another bill authored</a> by Padilla that extended the state’s anti-discrimination laws to bar discrimination based on genetic information.
The bill introduced earlier this year, <a href="http://dist20.casen.govoffice.com/index.asp?Type=B_PR&amp;SEC=%7B5EACFA15-EA6B-41D8-9711-C030F9FAD5EE%7D&amp;DE=%7B84E67402-17EA-4BF9-8952-2F3FED2DEEC0%7D">Senate Bill 1267</a>, would prevent the secret collection and testing of a person’s genetic material. Specifically the law would bar collection of genetic material without a person’s written consent. The law would impose criminal and civil penalties for violations.
“SB 1267 would extend California privacy protections to a person’s genetic material and information,” said Senator Padilla. “We have laws to protect the privacy of our financial information, our medical records, and even the books we check out from the local library. We need genetic privacy protections because nothing is more personal than our DNA.”

Privacy — Page 2