23andMe confirms hackers stole ancestry data on 6.9 million users::Genetic testing company 23andMe revealed that its data breach was much worse than previously reported, hitting about half of its total customers.
Have any of your blood relatives had any diseases that have a genetic component? Cancer? Heart disease? Yeah, we don’t cover that, it’s as clear as day, in the fine print, on page 13,131 of indexed addendum information. Additionally, you knowingly had this information from a DNA test, which constitutes fraud, making your policy null and void. Thank you for your business.
Also, they could deny you coverage because of a preexisting condition, but come up with a different reason officially if that’s illegal. If they can get your dna through a back channel, they have plausible deniability for their motive.
That’s a good point that I hadn’t considered. I’m not sure how that would go over legally in the US. They could gather very similar information by looking at records from relatives who have used the same insurance company, even just financial records, but that is monitored closely by the government. I wonder if we’ll be seeing any lawsuits in the near future.
