• Mar 9, 2022
  • Glyn Moody
  • General Privacy News, Genetics, Governments, Social Media, Surveillance,

The Ultimate Privacy Betrayal: Personal DNA Used for Undisclosed Purposes, without Permission

As this blog has reported, one of the biggest threats to privacy is surveillance advertising. It works by tracking everything people do online — which sites they visit, what they do there. It draws its power from aggregating these tiny pieces of seemingly innocuous information to build up a detailed profile of what we do, … Continue reading “The Ultimate Privacy Betrayal: Personal DNA Used for Undisclosed Purposes, without Permission”

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  • Feb 10, 2021
  • Glyn Moody
  • General Privacy News, Governments, Surveillance,

Code is law: why software openness and algorithmic transparency are vital for privacy

This blog has written a number of times about the growing threat that low-cost, rapid DNA sequencing represents for privacy. The increased use of genetic material by the police to identify suspects poses particular problems. A recent case in the US involving a DNA sample raises a new issue. Because of its importance, both the … Continue reading “Code is law: why software openness and algorithmic transparency are vital for privacy”

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  • Aug 26, 2020
  • Glyn Moody
  • Cybersecurity, General Privacy News, Governments,

As privacy problems continue to pile up for DNA databases, Covid-19 introduces a major new risk

Two years ago, Privacy News Online warned that the growing number of large-scale DNA databases were likely to become a serious threat to people’s privacy. Sadly, things have not improved since then. The increasing police use of DNA sites to find suspects for serious crimes, as described in that post, led one of the leaders … Continue reading “As privacy problems continue to pile up for DNA databases, Covid-19 introduces a major new risk”

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  • Dec 27, 2019
  • Glyn Moody
  • General Privacy News, Governments, Surveillance,

What do you get if you put DNA and facial recognition together? Today, it’s China; tomorrow, maybe everywhere else

Two themes crop up again and again on this blog: facial recognition and DNA sequencing. Both technologies on their own are powerful, and steadily becoming greater threats to privacy. So what happens when they are put together? A story in the New York Times means we don’t have to guess, because China is already doing … Continue reading “What do you get if you put DNA and facial recognition together? Today, it’s China; tomorrow, maybe everywhere else”

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  • Apr 3, 2019
  • Glyn Moody
  • General Privacy News, Governments, Surveillance,

The march to mandatory, nationwide DNA databases picks up pace around the world

DNA is without doubt one of the new frontiers for privacy – and for the loss of it. As we wrote last year, genetic privacy is becoming a thing of the past thanks to relatives using DNA testing services. Drawing on this new pool of genetic data, police forces are starting to apply big data … Continue reading “The march to mandatory, nationwide DNA databases picks up pace around the world”

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  • Oct 20, 2018
  • Glyn Moody
  • General Privacy News,

Coming soon: everyone’s genetic anonymity undermined by distant relatives – and there’s nothing you can do about it

Earlier this year, Privacy News Online wrote about how long-standing linked but unsolved murder cases were resolved by checking genetic material found at some of the crime scenes against online DNA-based genealogy sites. The partial matches with others on the database indicated that they were relatives of the murderer. By drawing up a family tree … Continue reading “Coming soon: everyone’s genetic anonymity undermined by distant relatives – and there’s nothing you can do about it”

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  • Aug 18, 2018
  • Glyn Moody
  • Cybersecurity, General Privacy News, Governments,

After call to implant microchips in people awaiting trial, are they about to become the next threat to our privacy?

Last year, Privacy News Online wrote about the Swedish SJ Railways allowing customers to use under-the-skin microchip implants for “easy” ticket purchases. That might have seemed a one-off bad idea, but such implants have a surprisingly long history. More worryingly, they seem to be gaining in popularity, and cropping up increasingly in everyday situations, with … Continue reading “After call to implant microchips in people awaiting trial, are they about to become the next threat to our privacy?”

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  • May 18, 2018
  • Glyn Moody
  • General Privacy News, Governments,

The growing threat to privacy from big data forensics and false positives

The cost of sequencing the DNA found in genomes has been decreasingly rapidly in recent years. Since 2008, it has been falling even faster than the well-known Moore’s Law for semiconductor prices, and today a human genome can be sequenced in its near-entirety for $1000 or less. Similarly, partial sequencing costs have dropped dramatically, allowing … Continue reading “The growing threat to privacy from big data forensics and false positives”

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  • Sep 21, 2017
  • Glyn Moody
  • Cybersecurity, General Privacy News,

Opening the black boxes: algorithmic bias and the need for accountability

Here on Privacy News Online we’ve written a number of stories about the privacy implications of DNA. There’s an important case going through the Californian courts at the moment that involves DNA and privacy, but whose ramifications go far beyond those issues: “In this case, a defendant was linked to a series of rapes by … Continue reading “Opening the black boxes: algorithmic bias and the need for accountability”

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  • Aug 18, 2017
  • Glyn Moody
  • General Privacy News, Governments, Surveillance,

Leak of proposed US law reveals plans for widespread use of multiple surveillance technologies at borders

Here on Privacy News Online, we often write about the impact on privacy of technologies such as facial recognition, iris scans, DNA databases, and drones. Individually, those powerful and rapidly-advancing technologies all pose different challenges to the protection of our privacy. Imagine how dangerous it would be if they were brought together in a complete, … Continue reading “Leak of proposed US law reveals plans for widespread use of multiple surveillance technologies at borders”

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