US officials voice DNA biowarfare fears
A House Intelligence Committee member warns Americans against using DNA testing kits
“There are now weapons under development, and developed, that are designed to target specific people,” US Representative Jason Crow (D-Colorado), a member of the House Intelligence Committee,
in Colorado on Friday.
“That’s what this is, where you can actually take someone’s DNA, take their medical profile, and you can target a biological weapon that will kill that person or take them off the battlefield or make them inoperable.”
Given that threat, Crow added, it’s troubling that expectations of privacy for personal data have diminished over the past 20 years, to the point that young people have
“very little expectation of privacy” and readily give their data to private companies, such as DNA testing services.
“People will very rapidly spit into a cup and send it to 23andMe and get really interesting data about their background,” Crow said.
“And guess what? Their DNA is now owned by a private company. It can be sold off with very little intellectual property protection or privacy protection.”