The dirty little secret is that anyone under the age of 30 probably could hack your private information from facebook and figure out your email password, and then get your SSN and other personal stuff.
I shudder about what is on my tablet, for example.
Once you were fingerprinted for the military and for other reasons, like when you want to adopt a child. But now, fingerprints are taken for a lot of jobs that don't require a "Security clearance": in the name of finding if you are a sex offender, you get fingerprinted for all sorts of jobs.
Ah, but DNA is private, right?
Now I have a question for you: do you really want a private organization to get hold of your dna for their database?
NYTimes article:
Researchers led by a University of North Carolina team will use a new iPhone app to recruit women who have had postpartum depression. The goal is to collect about 100,000 DNA samples and compare them to DNA from women who have never experienced depression in hopes of discovering genetic factors that could lead to better prediction, diagnosis and treatment for maternal mental illness.
of course, this leads one to say: Uh, population bias in your sample.
But they will "invite" poor women to donate too:
Again, a bias: A lot of people don't see doctors, and a lot will not go to these clinics. And many will be paranoid about giving up a DNA sample...
“To make sure this is not just a study of iPhone-using people,” Dr. Meltzer-Brody said, iPad versions of the app will be available in some urban and rural clinics, and patients who want to provide their DNA will “right then and there be offered a spit kit.”
ah but don't worry: Your data is safe with them:
Names and email addresses will be required, Dr. Meltzer-Brody said, but the project will encrypt personal data.
ah, that makes me feel better.
By the way: Are you aware that my federal personnel file was hacked?
No comments:
Post a Comment