You can use Big Brother to help find your birth family.

Every year, more Chinese adoptees send off DNA kits, upload photographs, or submit their DNA to the National Reunion Database. As databases grow and social networks interconnect, the chance of reunion grows. Chinese police now use not only DNA analysis but also face recognition to help families reunite.

oh no

[–] invo_rt@hexbear.net 36 points 3 months ago

As a USian child, I distinctly recall being in elementary school and having someone from the local police department come as a "fun" event and talk about public safety while also fingerprinting every kid (myself included) for "fun". We put each of our fingers into that transfer medium and pressed it onto cards. It's kind of like finger painting, really, if you don't think about it. This was done without parental consent as well.

[–] BanMeFromPosting@hexbear.net 28 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

wojak-nooo don't you see? We have to only let the government access our DNA databases and they have to be housed in Israel!! Nooo you can't make them accessible to the public so they know what's being tracked and maybe they can use it for fun stuff too!! It's different when people in China voluntarily enter their DNA into a database than when we either scam them with a "private" company or just force people to do it

[–] Runcible@hexbear.net 21 points 3 months ago (1 children)

don't you see? We have to only let the government access our DNA databases

Possibly better than what is/was actually happening. IIRC 23andme "owned" the genetic data from their customer and sold it off as part of a merger or bankruptcy or something?

[–] BanMeFromPosting@hexbear.net 8 points 3 months ago (2 children)

I thought they just sold the data to the government or something

[–] Runcible@hexbear.net 18 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I think they were sharing it with police without warrants but no, scanning headlines and grabbing a snippet from a random one (Fortune) gives me this "A U.S. bankruptcy judge ruled DNA-testing company 23andMe, which filed for bankruptcy Sunday, has the right to sell customers’ medical and ancestry data to potential bidders. Offers will be due on May 7, and a final hearing will be held in June."

[–] BanMeFromPosting@hexbear.net 14 points 3 months ago

That reminds me of all those "cryogenic" facilities that thaw the bodies of their clients when they go bankrupt

[–] ClathrateG@hexbear.net 10 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

It's digital data, copies can and were/are sold to multiple entities including governments and other companies. The US state and it's LEOs have it, and I don't have a source for this but I assume companies like Palantir in the panopticon game have it too