Your DNA & Personal Information Is No Longer Yours if you've Taken a COVID Test
If you've gotten tested for the virus, you should know that your personal data and DNA has been exposed. Every one of those nasal swabs contains millions of your cells and your DNA can easily be extracted from every sample. The popular corona test is a molecular test that supposedly isolates the RNA of a virus. (It is not the same as the antibody test which tests your blood and can also be easily used to isolate your DNA).
All labs in the U.S.A. doing covid testing are required by law to submit all test results to the Department of Health and Human Services. The HIPAA privacy laws that protect your personal health (medical) information, do not protect your genetic sequencing. Currently there are no laws in the U.S.A. protecting your DNA. In the past, DNA testing companies like ancestry.com have shared their users genetic & personal information with the police without the consent of their customers.
When you get tested you must reveal your name, age, gender, travel history, address , etc.. depending upon the center. In normal times, our personal medical information should be protected under HIPAA laws if your tests were done in a hospital, doctors office setting, or Federal public health facility . Educational or academic institutions and labs may or may not fall under the HIPAA laws. However, HIPAA laws allow doctors and hospitals to disclose patient information to public health authorities or to ANYONE to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health and safety of the person or the public. This provision allows for the disclosure of test results to anyone who can benefit from knowing the results either by taking APPROPRIATE PROTECTIVE ACTION or WARNING OTHERS. By law, Positive test results for Covid can be widely shared in the interest of helping others (with government, any heath care personel, law enforcement...) In coutries like Israel, your covid test results can be shared with anyone including your neighbors, friends and employers, anyone who you've been in contact with for the past 2 weeks. And they track who you've been in contact with through your iphone GPS. For this reason, people have begun leaving their phones at home whenever they go out. And YOUR DNA (GENETIC INFORMATION) CURRENTLY HAS NO LAW PROTECTING IT AT ALL.
Quote from the HHS: "When the disclosure of PHI (personal health information) to first responders is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health and safety of a person or the public. A covered entity may disclose PHI to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to a person or the public, when such disclosure is made to someone they believe can prevent or lessen the threat, which may include the target of the threat. For example, HIPAA permits a covered entity, consistent with applicable law and standards of ethical conduct, to disclose PHI about individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19 to fire department personnel, child welfare workers, mental health crisis services personnel, or OTHERS charged with protecting the health or safety of the public if the covered entity believes in good faith that the disclosure of the information is necessary to prevent or minimize the threat of imminent exposure to such personnel in the discharge of their duties. 45 CFR 164.512(j)(1).
https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/covid-19-hipaa-and-first-responders-508.pdf
The CDC has been receiving positive lab results. If your biological sample has been included along with the results, expect that your name and personal information will have been shared as well. By law, all labs must share their results with the Department of Health and Human Services (to review the exact law visit the FDA website by clicking this link or see below (1)). And there is no limit to how many times and with whom your information has been shared.
It's scary that your test samples which contain highly sensitive information and DNA are being sent to labs which have the machinery to do gene sequencing. From a scientific standpoint your genes are valuable. And they can be shared with pharmaceutical companies, with insurance companies, and with the police. Without your consent, your DNA can be used in scientific research and development.
THEIR IS NO LAW PROTECTING YOUR DNA IN DNA TEST KITS
DNA test kits have been around for some time. In December, the Department of Defense sent a memo advising employees to stay away from DNA tests, which they called “largely unregulated.” (2)
David Chronister, CEO of Parameter Security, said: “From a technological standpoint, from an exploitation of information [the Department of Defense] sees five to 10 years down the road of what corporate America is looking at. So, I would say if they're really being leery about their employees taking these tests, I would really take heed to that."
Cathy Roberts, associate editor for health at Consumer Reports, is also very concerned.
“It is kind of a Wild West as far as regulation,” she said.
“That law does not protect against discrimination in other settings. Some big examples are life insurance companies, long-term care insurance, disability insurance. These insurers can make decisions about your premiums, about your coverage, based on genetic information,” said Roberts.
Unlike a credit card number or bank account, once pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, or even hackers receive your genetic information, there's no going back. You cant throw out the card or open a new account.
DNA testing companies aren’t bound by the same laws that protect private health information in the same way as insurers, hospitals and doctors.
The covid tests are an easy way for labs, pharmaceutical and the government to gain access to your DNA and personal information. In China, the Covid testing company that provided
Sources:
1) https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/coronavirus-covid-19-and-medical-devices/faqs-testing-sars-cov-2 quote taken from the FDA website:
"In addition, under section 18115 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (Public Law 116-136), laboratories, including those in patient care settings operating under a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) Certificate of Waiver, Certificate of Compliance or Certificate of Accreditation, must report the results of COVID-19 tests to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) or its designee, in such form and manner as the Secretary may prescribe, during the declared public health emergency.
When FDA issues an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for a COVID-19 test, the letter of authorization includes a condition that requires authorized laboratories performing COVID-19 testing to have a process in place for reporting test results to healthcare providers and relevant public health authorities, as appropriate. FDA considers this condition to include authorized laboratories reporting test results to HHS in accordance with section 18115 of the CARES Act."
2) https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/investigations/dna-testing-home-kit-privacy-concerns-problems/63-94f3845f-5a38-43b5-bb35-267c5ee5da36
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-bgi-specialreport/special-report-covid-opens-new-doors-for-chinas-gene-giantYour DNA is no longer yours if you've taken a COVID test: Genetic sequencing is not protected under privacy laws
If you've gotten tested for the virus, you should know that your personal data and DNA has been exposed. Every one of those nasal swabs contains millions of your cells and your DNA can easily be extracted from every sample. The popular corona test is a molecular test that supposedly isolates the RNA of a virus. (It is not the same as the antibody test which stores your blood and can also be easily used to isolate your DNA).
And all labs in the U.S.A. doing covid testing are required by law to submit all test results to the Department of Health and Human Services. The HIPAA privacy laws that protect your personal health (medical) information, do not protect your genetic sequencing. Currently there are no laws in the U.S.A. protecting your DNA. In the past, DNA testing companies like ancestry.com have shared their users genetic & personal information with the police without the consent of their customers.
When you get tested you must reveal your name, age, gender, travel history, address , etc.. depending upon the center. In normal times, our medical information should be protected under the HIPAA laws if your tests were done in a hospital, doctors office setting, or Federal public health facility . Educational or academic institutions and labs may or may not fall under the HIPAA laws. However, HIPAA laws allow doctors and hospitals to disclose patient information to public health authorities or to ANYONE to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health and safety of the person or the public. This provision allows for the disclosure of test results to anyone who can benefit from knowing the results either by taking APPROPRIATE PROTECTIVE ACTION or WARNING OTHERS. By law, Positive test results for Covid may be widely shared in the interest of helping others with the police, your employer, your neighbors, etc..... Even more concerning, is that YOUR DNA (GENETIC INFORMATION) CURRENTLY HAS NO LAW PROTECTING IT AT ALL.
The CDC has been receiving positive lab results. If your biological sample has been included along with the results, expect that your name and personal information will have been shared as well. By law, all labs must share their results with the Department of Health and Human Services (to review the exact law visit the FDA website by clicking this link or see below (1)). And there is no limit to how many times and with whom its been shared.
It's scary that your test samples which contain highly sensitive information and DNA are being sent to labs which have the machinery to do gene sequencing. From a scientific standpoint your genes are valuable. And they can be shared with pharmaceutical companies, with insurance companies, and with the police.
THEIR IS NO LAW PROTECTING YOUR DNA IN DNA TEST KITS
In December, the Department of Defense sent a memo advising employees to stay away from DNA tests, which they called “largely unregulated.” (2)
David Chronister, CEO of Parameter Security, said: “From a technological standpoint, from an exploitation of information [the Department of Defense] sees five to 10 years down the road of what corporate America is looking at. So, I would say if they're really being leery about their employees taking these tests, I would really take heed to that."
Cathy Roberts, associate editor for health at Consumer Reports, is also very concerned.
“It is kind of a Wild West as far as regulation,” she said.
“That law does not protect against discrimination in other settings. Some big examples are life insurance companies, long-term care insurance, disability insurance. These insurers can make decisions about your premiums, about your coverage, based on genetic information,” said Roberts.
Unlike a credit card number or bank account, once pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, or even hackers receive your genetic information, there's no going back. You cant throw out the card or open a new account.
DNA testing companies aren’t bound by the same laws that protect private health information in the same way as insurers, hospitals and doctors. The BG Group, a Chinese company manufacturing covid test kits, sold 35 million rapid COVID-19 testing kits to 180 countries and built 58 labs in 18 countries.
They have called on international health researchers to send in patient samples that have tested positive for COVID-19, to be shared with China’s government-funded National GeneBank. China has used this gene bank to track its citizens, specifically the Uighur minority group.
If China has a gene bank, rest assured that the U.S.A and Europe are fast establishing their own gene bank. And an epidemic is the best way to get it done - without arousing public opposition.
Sources:
1) https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/coronavirus-covid-19-and-medical-devices/faqs-testing-sars-cov-2 quote taken from the FDA website:
"In addition, under section 18115 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (Public Law 116-136), laboratories, including those in patient care settings operating under a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) Certificate of Waiver, Certificate of Compliance or Certificate of Accreditation, must report the results of COVID-19 tests to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) or its designee, in such form and manner as the Secretary may prescribe, during the declared public health emergency.
When FDA issues an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for a COVID-19 test, the letter of authorization includes a condition that requires authorized laboratories performing COVID-19 testing to have a process in place for reporting test results to healthcare providers and relevant public health authorities, as appropriate. FDA considers this condition to include authorized laboratories reporting test results to HHS in accordance with section 18115 of the CARES Act."
2) https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/investigations/dna-testing-home-kit-privacy-concerns-problems/63-94f3845f-5a38-43b5-bb35-267c5ee5da36
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-bgi-specialreport/special-report-covid-opens-new-doors-for-chinas-gene-giant-idUSKCN2511CE
https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/blog/as-privacy-problems-continue-to-pile-up-for-dna-databases-covid-19-introduces-a-major-new-risk/
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/the-answer-to-a-covid-19-vaccine-may-lie-in-our-genes-but/-idUSKCN2511CE
