Incredibly, by 2025, 60 million people in the United States alone will have had their DNA sequenced and analysed for healthcare purposes.
But clinicians and researchers, including in a recent article in the New Zealand Medical Journal, have raised concerns about the potential for the misuse, theft, or discriminatory use of DNA data obtained from genomic testing, including potential discrimination by health and life insurance companies.
Genomic data is fascinating in that it is very different to all other health data – it is persistent. Unlike cholesterol level, blood pressure or body fat percentage, it almost never changes.
This means it can provide long-lasting, predictive information, not only about us but also about our relatives.
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With this new access to our DNA, or genomic data, comes risk. Interested parties outside the clinical setting can use this data, which is unique for every individual.
Insurers, employers, advertisers and identity thieves are amongst those who seek our genomic information.
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As we advance into a digital frontier where disease risk may be identified and managed or eliminated at the earliest possible stage – often even before a person is symptomatic – there is an urgent need for security technology to protect this more intimate information about each of us.
