Inside STAT: Can Congress safeguard what health tech companies do with your DNA?

(ADOBE)

With the brave new world of apps and other technologies that constantly access — and sometimes sell — our data to other companies, the government is still contemplating how it can help protect the privacy of its citizens. Privacy concerns are also present in the field of biomedicine, especially as more and more people take consumer DNA tests. Congress is now slowly moving to address such thorny issues. Two Silicon Valley lawmakers, for instance, are drafting a bill with limits on what DNA testing companies can do with customer information. Others, including presidential hopeful Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), are calling for more research into understanding how to anonymize DNA data. STAT Plus subscribers can read more from Andrew Joseph here.