Preventing abuse of technology depends upon strong protections for individuals – not just for those who consent to the use of their data, and for those who do not.

1 May 2019, Fast Company

There has been an increasing public debate in the last few years around the use of data by states and tech companies…Read more >>> 

TWENTY YEARS AGO, you had about a 1 in 6 billion chance of knowing someone who’d had their DNA sequenced. Today, almost every American can name someone who’s had some form of genetic testing. 

1 May 2019, HIPAA Journal

The rise of DNA data has legal experts increasingly concerned that the United States is not effectively protecting consumers from the many privacy risks…Read more >>> 

Investigators had reportedly used an ancestry database to track the man down

26 April 2019, Science News

speculation was that either AncestryDNA or 23andMe, two popular direct-to-consumer testing companies, had turned over customer data to the police. Both companies denied involvement…Read more >>> 

As DNA testing gallops ahead, doctors face wrenching questions about legal risks, protecting patients’ privacy, and the quality of the genetic information they’re providing—and they need help.

26 April 2019, Science Mag

“The genome is static, but our ability to analyze it and interpret it is undergoing dramatic change,” said James Evans, a geneticist at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. “We don’t understand most of these variants…Read more >>> 

We have compiled healthcare data breach statistics from October 2009 when the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights first started publishing summaries of healthcare data breaches on its website.

1 May 2019, HIPAA Journal

Our healthcare data breach statistics clearly show there has been an upward trend in data breaches over the past 9 years…Read more >>> 

Amid privacy concerns and dramatic growth in genetic-testing products

12 April 2019, WLRN

the Florida House on Thursday passed a bill that would ban life-insurance and long-term care insurance companies from using genetic testing information in policy decisions…Read more >>> 

The use of genetic information collected by private companies in criminal investigations raises a number of issues about transparency and privacy.

21 March 2019, Pacific Standard

After more than a decade of work, the Human Genome Project produced the first complete sequence of the human genome in 2001. Although hard to imagine at that moment…Read more >>> 

The conversation over police uploading suspects’ DNA to online databases is missing something important.

18 March 2019, Slate.com

Almost a year ago, police apprehended Joseph DeAngelo—dubbed the Golden State Killer—for more than a dozen murders and 50 rapes committed in the 1970s and ’80s. His arrest was thanks to the advent of open-source DNA databases…Read more >>> 

But how can we better inform people about those risks ?

15 March 2019, Slate.com

After more than a decade of work, the Human Genome Project produced the first complete sequence of the human genome in 2001. Although hard to imagine at that moment, two decades of profound technological improvements…Read more >>> 

MedCo is the first operational system to protect sensitive patient data – including genetic information – so that it can be used collectively for crucial medical research

12 March 2019, EPFL News

Using the MedCo system, authorized researchers will be able to explore data from multiple sources like hospitals based on clinical and genetic criteria without compromising patient privacy. …Read more >>>