Three of the biggest home DNA testing companies in the UK have all been the subject of complaints to the data watchdog, figures released under freedom of information rules show.
Since January last year, the Information Commissioner鈥檚 Office received a total of 16 complaints about AncestryDNA, 23andme and MyHeritage. The cases appear to have been relatively low level, but several required action by the companies involved, as well as the ICO having to raise concerns with them and give advice on compliance with data protection rules.
Direct-to-consumer DNA testing companies are growing in popularity with . Members of the UK parliament are investigating what safeguards should be put in place to , some of which can tell people their risk of developing conditions such as Type 2 diabetes.
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Influential scientific groups have already told MPs that steps need to be taken to avoid negative outcomes, such as causing anxiety when people receive their results.聽The groups also said that new laws may be needed聽to make sure genetic data is not sold on to third parties such as insurance firms.
Of the complaints made to the ICO, 10 were made about the US company AncestryDNA, 2 about the US firm 23andme, and 4 about Israeli-based MyHeritage. The issues covered everything from security, use and disclosure of data, and the right to prevent the processing of data.
The details of the cases were not disclosed in the to 快猫短视频. But they are likely to involve isolated incidents of human error rather than failures of procedures. That might be an email being sent to the wrong person, or small volumes of personal data being lost or accidentally destroyed.
Since new EU privacy legislation took effect in May last year, known as the General Data Protection Regulation, biometric data has been designated as , meaning it has additional legal protections.
GDPR probably raised awareness about being able to complain about use of genetic data, says Debbie Kennett of University College London. 聽There are probably many more complaints being made directly to companies but those figures are not published. The number of complaints seems low given the number of people estimated to have taken a DNA test in the UK,聽Kennett says.
鈥淚t鈥檚 quite reassuring that the ICO is actually working as it should do, and there is this channel where people can submit complaints and have them investigated,鈥� she says.
