Pentagon Warns Military Personnel Against At-Home DNA Tests

The memo was written by Joseph D. Kernan, the under secretary of defense for intelligence, and James N. Stewart, the assistant secretary of defense for manpower. They warn that the tests “could expose personal and genetic information, and potentially create unintended security consequences and increased risk to the joint force and mission.”

The memo does not get into what specifically these risks might be, and Commander Robertson declined to elaborate.

In a statement, a spokeswoman from 23andMe said that the company took great care to protect customers’ privacy.

“Our FDA-authorized health reports have been tested to be over 99% accurate,” she said. “All of our testing is done in the U.S., and we do not share information with third parties without separate, explicit consent from our customers.”

An Ancestry spokeswoman said that the company had not targeted military personnel with discounts. “Ancestry does not share customer DNA data with insurers, employers, or third-party marketers,” she added.

The Pentagon does not advise against genetic testing altogether. But service members were encouraged to get genetic information “from a licensed professional rather than a consumer product,” Commander Robertson said.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/24/us/military-dna-tests.html?emc=rss&partner=rss