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Re:Putting 500k People's DNA Online by Real_S on Saturday February 10, 2018 @02:09PM (#16348917)
These data can be used to identify their source. This will become easier as more data becomes available.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15209306

I guess the value of the data depends on who measures its worth. Replicated p-values lead to multiple publications, which are valuable to academics. But these results can still cause misdirection. What is a low p-value worth if it doesn't lead anywhere?

Re:Putting 500k People's DNA Online by gwern on Saturday February 10, 2018 @02:57PM (#16349228)
> These data can be used to identify their source. This will become easier as more data becomes available.

Yes, so? (The face paper you link isn't a good example of this anyway, since it's so questionable and re-identification already works much better than that based on stuff like haplotypes.) That's not a real risk, not compared to, you know unlocking the secrets of human genetics. And it has little to do with the research databases: DNA is inherently as far away as it is possible to get from being anonymous, once it started becoming cheap, the loss of genetic privacy was inevitable no matter how it was handled. And it's not that big a deal. We will be much better off for it.

> Replicated p-values lead to multiple publications, which are valuable to academics.

This is very different from what you were just claiming.

Re:Putting 500k People's DNA Online by rectang on Saturday February 10, 2018 @03:41PM (#16349459)
> That's not a real risk, not compared to, you know unlocking the secrets of human genetics.

So, it's you who gets to play god and decide to sacrifice individuals for the alleged greater good?

Re:Putting 500k People's DNA Online by Real_S on Saturday February 10, 2018 @05:13PM (#16349943)
Unfortunately, GWAS data is unlikely to unlock the secrets of human genetics. We have been in the "post-GWAS era" of genetics for at least a few years now.

> And it's not that big a deal. We will be much better off for it.

I hope you are right! However, I have doubts. Also, just because sensitive information can be compromised doesn't mean that it should be offered freely.