Would you ever think of putting your most personal information on the Web? Sure you would. You probably do it everyday. Especially is you are using the Facebook mobile application for iPhone or Android. Most people don't think twice about uploading personal pictures to the web to share with friends and family despite the fact that once uploaded all that information belongs to the owners of the social networking software. However, while less than glamorous pictures of you doing a keg stand at your best friend's house last week may not concern you, what if you had the ability to receive medical services via web-based applications? Would you be willing to upload your personal genome data.... ?
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| Genome Data |
Folks, I'm not talking about simple Web 1.0 medical functions like doing a search for your symptoms on WebMD. I'm talking about uploading your most personal information to the Internet. In my mind nothing gets more personal than your own genetic code. While the advantage of availability may be appealing to some, the challenges associated with a lack of confidentiality and integrity are enough to make me hesitate for a minute. Well, maybe more than a minute. Check out the "Biomedicine" tab at MIT's Technology Review to read more.
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