The Pentagon Is Urging Its Subordinates Not To Test Their Genes Casually, How About You?

(24 Aug) On December 20, 2019, the U.S. Department of Defense issued an internal memo advising its component personnel not to use commercial DNA testing kits, citing the potential security risks posed by these tests.

The summary of the memo is as follow:

1. Some DTC (direct-to-consumer) DNA testing companies offer a special package to military personnel.

2. Most of such DNA testing companies are unregulated and may disclose personal and genetic information.

3. Genetic data is sensitive information and its disclosure will lead to security risks and an increase in operational risks.

4. There exists the possibility of misuse of genetic information by DNA testing companies, including mass surveillance and the possibility of tracing individuals without their consent.

5. Conclusion: The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) advises its subordinates not to purchase or use direct-to-consumer DNA testing services.

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The most famous ones among these DNA testing services include 23andMe and Ancestry in the United States, 23 Magic Cube and WeGene in the People's Republic of China (PRC), and the CircleDNA based in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of the PRC. Commercial DNA testing services have become fashionable in recent years, and are even available in-home kits. All you need to do is to spit into a small plastic bottle, i.e. about 2 ml or half a teaspoon of saliva, or collect the shed cells with a mouth swab, and you will have enough samples to collect DNA data for sequencing. One week after submitting the sample, you will receive a test report which will tell you where your ancestors came from, how many different ethnic groups you have, and your susceptibility to certain diseases.

The results of the test can be interesting, such as estimating whether you have misophonia, but the protection of privacy for the subject is close to zero. Even if you buy the set under a false name, pay for it with a secret credit card, and receive it at an address that is not your own, the DNA sample is unique to you and can be traced back to only you. For example, if a distant relative does the same test, the database will automatically be matched to notify you of the relative's presence, and will also notify you of the relative's name according to their privacy settings. In the People's Republic of China, notifications can even be set up as a WeChat widget, which is how your personal genetic information is linked to WeChat. As long as you have a few more people around you who are genetically linked to you for testing, your relationship and your personal identity will have nowhere to hide.

Some will find these kits fun and the results interesting, and don't mind having their DNA data exposed to the public. Yet, the first media outlet to reveal the Pentagon memo documents was Yahoo News, which interviewed Erin Murphy, a professor at New York University's School of Law, who said that if someone were to use genetic information for comparison, it could be possible to trace the actions of covert operatives, such as those who assassinated Osama bin Laden, to their real identities. She said, “It's not hard to imagine a world where people blithely share (genetic) information online without realizing that their distant relative is a Navy SEAL or a CIA agent.”

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The purpose of this article is not to infer that the "Universal Community Testing Program" launched by the Government of the HKSAR of the People's Republic of China will expose genetic information, but simply to point out that one mouthful of saliva, about 2 ml or half a teaspoon of saliva, is, in fact, sufficient for full genetic sequencing. If these samples are not handled properly, the impact will not only affect you personally but also all your distant relatives, be them related to you or not.

Whether a genetic sample will be properly handled depends largely on the company's background, the jurisdiction in which the laboratory is located, and the political prestige of that jurisdiction.

To put it more bluntly, the so-called "community-wide testing" this time is not only about the number of hidden Wuhan Pneumonia patients, but also about the level of trust Hong Kong people have in this regime.

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Image: Pentagon internal memo on DNA kit (from Yahoo News)

P.S.: Yahoo News was the first to disclose the internal memo documents of the Pentagon, with related link:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/pentagon-warns-military-members-dna-kits-pose-personal-and-operational-risks-173304318.html

Source: Pazu

https://bit.ly/2R2Gjsc

#DNAtest #GeneticInformation #Exposed #CommunityWideTesting