DNA Safety - How My True Ancestry Protects Your Privacy

The boom in interest in getting our DNA tested has led to an upsurge in availability and access to DNA testing in recent years. However, this has unfortunately led to a range of privacy concerns on behalf of users - such as “Will my family secrets be exposed?”, “Will my anonymity be exploited?” or “Will companies profit from my data without my knowledge?” 

However, My True Ancestry’s primary concern is to protect the privacy of our customers' digital and DNA data. 

In this post, we aim to address some of people’s biggest concerns regarding the safety of their data, as well as discuss the extent that My True Ancestry goes to in order to protect our customers' personal DNA information. 

Why Are People Concerned About the Privacy of Their Data?

In the wake of a partnership deal between a major genetic testing company and a for-profit company, there has been an outcry of concern from millions of previous customers about how their information will be further used - and perhaps their concern is founded. After all, by the very nature of taking a test to find out more about our DNA, we are opening a portal of insight into our ancestors, relatives, and even children. 

From many standpoints, there is nothing more personal than the information carried in our DNA. So, when we send away for a DNA testing kit, we trust the testing company with the most precious information. Even if these companies don’t intend to use their customers’ data without their knowledge, what would prevent security breaches from accessing it and using it to their advantage? After all, if your personal computer was hacked, you can change your passwords - however, you can’t change your DNA.  To address your concerns regarding the privacy of your DNA results and personal information, we’ll highlight some of the more common privacy risks around having your genetics tested below and also spotlight how My True Ancestry addresses these risks to ensure that your privacy is protected.

Hacking

Hacking is a concern that many of us face in our day-to-day lives - it is not a risk that is unique to the DNA testing industry. However, as we’ve mentioned, our DNA is highly personally valuable and individual, so it’s considerably different from just having our computer hacked. And major DNA testing companies have been hacked in the past - even if the DNA data itself wasn’t breached. But it did flag an apprehension for many people regarding the safety of their data. 

At My True Ancestry, we ensure your data protection by never requesting your personal details to create an account. If you wish, you can even choose to set up an anonymous email when registering for our service. What’s more, we delete our customer's DNA files as soon as processing is complete. Therefore, there is no possible way for your file to be linked to your anonymous profile and, thus, your true identity.

Outsider Profit

Surprisingly, most users of DNA testing companies choose to “opt-in” to share their data with outside partners. Perhaps these customers have a high opinion of these sites, so trust them with their private information. Nevertheless, the customers who opt-in will likely see no personal benefit from having their data used.

A further concern of allowing testing companies to use personal data is, that although these companies may feel like they have control over what their partnering companies will do with your information, they have no guarantee that customer DNA results won’t be distributed further. Once data has been shared beyond the DNA testing company, it’s not just as simple as requesting that they delete it. 

With My True Ancestry, there’s no chance that you will ever be requested to share your data. The service we provide was entirely created by the users and for the users. 

What’s more, the founders of My True Ancestry are true privacy advocates who designed and built the system from the ground up to be anonymous. This is why we don’t - at any stage of the process - ask for any personal information to create an account or to use the system. Not only does this design make it impossible to link a specific user to their DNA file, but since we also delete customer files once they are analyzed, we hold absolutely no research or profit interest for an independent company or business.

The Laws Around Protecting DNA Data 

There is an argument to be made that the specific laws designed to protect customer DNA data from being used by potential employers, for-profit companies, or insurance companies just aren’t comprehensive enough. And considering that the explosion of interest in the area is relatively new, there’s a strong possibility that this argument is valid. 

Although these laws might eventually catch up with the popularity of DNA testing, we strive to remain privacy advocates by never asking for personal information throughout the DNA testing process, and we further ensure anonymity by deleting customer’s files. 

In Conclusion - My True Ancestry is a truly safe method of exploring who you are by digging deeper into your past. We facilitate our customers' search for their ancestors in an unobtrusive, respectful manner that never compromises our formative ethical efforts to be privacy advocates.

Furthermore, as described in our Privacy Policy, MyTrueAncestry is GDPR compliant. Thus, in accordance, we carefully track all data from the moment it is uploaded until it is destroyed. All users have the option to destroy their kits or request their account to be deleted at any stage throughout the process.

Finally, we are aware of how many companies change their policies regarding privacy and customer data. My True Ancestry have committed to protecting our customers’ anonymity from the company's genesis - and this is not something that we ever plan to change.