04 Oct Privacy Advocates Blast Ancestry.com for Keeping DNA Data
Utah-based genealogy company Ancestry.com is being criticized by privacy campaigners for holding onto its customer’s DNA data, even after saying that it had already dropped its “perpetuity clause” from its terms of use.
However, it was found out that the company does not delete the said data unless the customer requests for it.
While the office of the Information Commissioner said that the firm is not required to routinely delete the DNA information, some customers thought that the move was a bit disingenuous. Privacy groups such as Big Brother Watch also added that there was no reason for Ancestry.com to keep the data after providing the results to their customers.
The lawyer who originally spotted the perpetuity clause, Joel Winston, said that the changes Ancestry.com made to their T & C were merely superficial.
Source: BBC News
