Be careful you don't break something with those gymnastics.

The immediate concern I had with this story is nefarious groups or individuals purchasing this data to target people with violence based on their ethnicities. Imagine if the genome of millions of Europeans was available on the black market in 1930s Europe.

Considering one of the hacker's first actions was to offer for sale data identifying people of Jewish or Chinese descent I think that's a very valid concern.

Did anybody actually buy it though? This could be misdirection, or just misguided marketing based on historical instances of abuse. China isn't known for trying to repatriate descendants, and it's not exactly difficult to find Jews.

Ancestry data would certainly be of interest to a particular demographic known to discriminate by caste. There's no escaping your low-class heritage when anyone can look up your stolen DNA profile on the black market.

"not exactly difficult"...

I'm not Jewish, but I feel like there's some sort of reason for them not wanting a list of who they and where they live to exist.

If only Communists wore little hats, followed predictable schedules, performed a particular surgical operation on all males, wore unique symbols, put specific candelabras in the window, associated with many others of their beliefs, and attended service at well-known locations dedicated solely to their cause, we'd have an easier time rounding all of them up.

No, we need DNA profiles to find Jews. They're as elusive as the fucking Illuminati. There's just no way to find them unless we have blood samples and stolen DNA profiles.

Limited time offer: accuse Israel of war crimes on social media. The Jews will come to you.

Yes, because pogroms have solely been targeted against practicing Jews.

There are a ton of Jews who don't follow kosher law, who aren't particularly religious, etc etc. Yet they would be targeted by anti-semites.

Please don't write things like this here.

It doesn’t matter if it got bought because it’s indelibly available forever now. It’s now available to someone who shouldn’t have it whenever they come around with the intent to misuse it.

And the choice to share or protect this information just got taken away from every one of their customers forever.

> it's not exactly difficult to find Jews.

Really? As a 25% jew whos genetic data was probably just stolen, I'd like to disagree with that statement.

I have no idea what "it's not exactly difficult to find Jews" means. It struck me as kind of an icky thing to say, so you might want to clarify the benign intent you had for saying it.

Weren't the sales surface on Oct 6th?

That is one SOLID example of what could go wrong.

It’s similar to the Office of Personnel Management data breach when every Federal Employee was just 0wn3d. It included 21.5 million background investigations into people and the personnel files of every federal employee and most contractors.

Just slightly sensitive stuff. Nobody knows how many people died as a result of the hack, but I’m sure it was non-trivial because a LOT of people got surprised doxed.

This information is still rattling around out there and will have implications for generations.

Imagine if the same could be done for demographics based on genetics — the risk factors for medical conditions, the ethnic ties you’re talking about, etc.

It’s weighty stuff.

If a group wanted to do that why bother with the dna data? Easier to just perform the violence. Even in 1930s europe I’d bet the SS would not really be concerned with whatever your dna data said if they really wanted you or your people gone, you’d just be labeled an enemy and sent off same as a jew or a gypsy or a communist.

I'll take this one step further.

What if you're able to pinpoint unique loci for an individual or group which can serve as a target of a highly specific bio-weapon? Do you think genomic bio-weapons aren't being explored as future weapons?

Or a rival country could create a virus that targets 80% of their enemies population and only 20% of their own

This is tin-foil hat nonsense.

It is becoming far easier than you are aware then. Sam Harris and Rob Reid discussed in length a few years ago.

https://www.samharris.org/podcasts/making-sense-episodes/spe...

>Rob Reid is a podcaster, author, and tech investor, and was a long-time tech entrepreneur

Ah yeah, exactly who you should go to for bio-engineering advice

Unless you speak Kikongo.

Until that virus mutates its receptor binding protein.

How do you make the leap to it being an issue of capitalism? There are plenty of bad actors who could use this information (or other hacked info) who are not a corporation seeking profit.

Like North Korea which by far has the most state sponsored cyber thugs per capita.

Capitalism isn't about corporations, it's about capital.

Yeah, I didn't mean 'a philosophical ideal of Capitalism'. Apologies for my imprecise question. I meant Western Capitalism which of course is a form of corporatism.

It’s the ideological form of “when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail”

My go-to is "what if literal nazis come to power and use this information to kick-start their eugenics program", but I guess rampant capitalism is also on the threat list.

There are already businesses that practice eugenics based on illegal data like this or illegal maps

How is a map illegal?

In Japan there are maps of old caste demographics that are used to exclude categories of people based on where they’re from or their families are from from working - companies have been caught using versions of these maps that are illegal for businesses to use in hiring. They are legal to print or exist without being in use by business.

Governements abuse people more than an economic system ever has. A corporation has never marched people to camps, nor have corporations ever imprisoned anyone for their politics. If I don’t want to deal with a corporation, I have the right not to — unless government forces me to.

Corporations have pushed wars and has people shot and beaten for their politics.

And to you I guess a cotton or sugar plantation was not a capitalist enterprise?

> Governements abuse people more than an economic system ever has

This is true on one level, as economic systems are not actors, but abstractions for aggregates of actions; its false on a more concrete level because governments are also not real concrete actors but abstractions for aggregates of real actors.

Both governments and economic systems (and corporations, which you seem to drop in as ig they were the same as economic systems) are abstractions through which real actors act, including to oppress, and very often actions by thr same actors involves all thrre abstractions (even a single action might). Corporations, after all. are themselves creatures of gogernment through law, and economic systems exist only as ideals without being made manifest through legal systems.

> A corporation has never marched people to camps,

You probably don't want to think about most of the best known early joint-stock conpanies (any of the variously East India companies, but especially the British, the Royal African Company, etc.)

> If I don’t want to deal with a corporation, I have the right not to — unless government forces me to.

Corporations—like any individuals—can and do apply coercive force on their own with only after-the-fact review by governments (and, in many cases historically, with obvjecting governments having limited power to apply sanctions), so, no, this isn't correct.

"Corporations have never imprisoned anyone for their politics"

Really?

Let me introduce you to Steven Donziger.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jul/26/lawyer-stev...

Ho and what about all those corporations that used Jewish slaves during world war 2?

Or just today, Coca Cola killing people protesting them taking their land away or Amazon imposing atrocious work conditions to their employees?

Before blindly defending corporations I'd try and take a look at reality...

It's not as simple as "government bad and corporations good"

The proper reason to give for privacy is: I don't need to have a reason for privacy; you're the one that needs to justify violating it.

Capitalism bad!

Exploitation good!

Exploitation bad. Socialism good!