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And do these people you advise about contracts know that you burn your hair after you take it out of your hair brush so that no one can steal it from your trash? Honestly, I'm not trying to be sarcastic here, you yourself say you're an abnormally paranoid person, and as such I have to question your rationale on something like this.
They can ask. But as per the privacy policy, they will not receive. There was a big fuss in the media when Ancestry gave DNA info to the police because they had a court order in a criminal investigation. Mostly, it was people thinking Ancestry just handed over the info and people were crying about privacy violation, when in reality, Ancestry refused to do so without a court order. Once the court order was in, they really had no choice. If the authorities like the police can't even get a hold of it without a court order, I'm not sure why you think insurance companies would be able to.
Because life insurance companies have "regulatory authorities" per 3.C. of the privacy policy/T&C that you quoted above.
Due to that, they do not need to go to court to receive that information. They just need to make a claim/request based on their authority to receive that information based on insurance regulatory laws. These laws can vary by state but that language in particular was the one that stuck out to me the most and the fact that they use international 3rd parties to perform some of their duties for them. International policies can vary drastically depending on the country and they do not state where their 3rd parties are located.
Because life insurance companies have "regulatory authorities" per 3.C. of the privacy policy/T&C that you quoted above.
Due to that, they do not need to go to court to receive that information. They just need to make a claim/request based on their authority to receive that information based on insurance regulatory laws. These laws can vary by state but that language in particular was the one that stuck out to me the most and the fact that they use international 3rd parties to perform some of their duties for them. International policies can vary drastically depending on the country and they do not state where their 3rd parties are located.
I don't think that's true - are you a lawyer? From what I can tell, regulatory authorities are government agencies, and that phrase is sandwiched between other legal requirements: "(c) as may be required by law, regulatory authorities,or legal process;" - they are talking about the law/government here, not private insurance companies. I can't find any information confirming that insurance companies are consider regulatory authorities.
I wouldn't really be worried about privacy, personally. I am just unsure what benefit there is to getting a genetic test done. I already know my ancestry. I guess finding out my y DNA haplogroup would be interesting, but thats not really relevant to ancestry or ethnicity anyway. Not interesting enough to justify the trouble and expense, I suppose.
I don't think that's true - are you a lawyer? From what I can tell, regulatory authorities are government agencies, and that phrase is sandwiched between other legal requirements: "(c) as may be required by law, regulatory authorities,or legal process;" - they are talking about the law/government here, not private insurance companies. I can't find any information confirming that insurance companies are consider regulatory authorities.
Insurance is a regulated industry that has to abide by specific standards. Due to being a regulated industry based on law, using these laws, they (private insurance companies) can request information regarding your medical history and "other sources" to determine whether or not to approve you to receive life insurance or to decide whether or not to pay out your claim. They can ask AncestryDNA for your information without any court appearance or process due to them being a regulated industry with the authority to request certain information. Based on the above IMO AncestryDNA may be obligated, per the terms, to release that information to them in their decisions regarding your application for coverage or for eligibility for payment of an insurance policy.
If you have taken a DNA genetic test before obtaining a particular life insurance policy and that genetic DNA test is reviewed by the insurance company and they see you have markers for specific diseases, one of which you may have died of, they would not be obligated to pay out your entire policy based on that information. If you were applying for a policy and they requested that information from AncestryDNA and they see you have markers for a specific type of illness they can deny approval of you receiving a life insurance policy based on that DNA genetic test.
That said, it probably won't be used, like you stated, but it is a possibility that it could be done and IMO it is a risk that I'm not willing to take.
Insurance is a regulated industry that has to abide by specific standards.
Yeah, they are a regulated company, not a regulatory authority.
According to Wikipedia: "A regulatory agency (also regulatory authority, regulatory body or regulator) is a public authority or government agency responsible for exercising autonomous authority over some area of human activity in a regulatory or supervisory capacity."
That describes the agencies that would regulate an insurance company (or another type of company) and make sure they are abiding by specific standards, not an insurance company themselves. That's not what insurance companies do.
You didn't answer my question about whether you are a lawyer. You can say what you like but from what I'm reading, what you are saying is not the case and you are misunderstanding what a regulatory authority is.
I wouldn't really be worried about privacy, personally. I am just unsure what benefit there is to getting a genetic test done. I already know my ancestry. I guess finding out my y DNA haplogroup would be interesting, but thats not really relevant to ancestry or ethnicity anyway. Not interesting enough to justify the trouble and expense, I suppose.
The DNA matches can help break down brick walls sometimes.
Genealogy is all about finding out who your ancestors are. We commonly find a person for whom we cannot determine where he came from or who his parents and siblings were.
Such a person is referred to as a "brick wall".
DNA can put you in touch with folks who have information on shared ancestors that you may not have.
Yeah, they are a regulated company, not a regulatory authority.
According to Wikipedia: "A regulatory agency (also regulatory authority, regulatory body or regulator) is a public authority or government agency responsible for exercising autonomous authority over some area of human activity in a regulatory or supervisory capacity."
That describes the agencies that would regulate an insurance company (or another type of company) and make sure they are abiding by specific standards, not an insurance company themselves. That's not what insurance companies do.
You didn't answer my question about whether you are a lawyer. You can say what you like but from what I'm reading, what you are saying is not the case and you are misunderstanding what a regulatory authority is.
No I'm not a lawyer. I never said I was, only that I review contracts for living for specific terms. I do have legal training and certification; however it is not an education equal to that as an attorney.
However, I do know what a regulatory authority is and I did mention that in the posts above to you. I stated that insurance companies are regulated by the government. That as private entities, they are allowed to request specific health information by law. Their ability to request that information is a part of the reason why they are regulated. The government, via a regulatory authority, is tasked with ensuring that they are performing their duties within the laws of which they are regulated.
Below of which you posted:
Quote:
AncestryDNA will not disclose personal information to third parties except in very limited circumstances which are set out below. Before AncestryDNA begins to transfer personal information to any third party acting as our agent, we will confirm that they have adopted, are subject to, or are contractually obligated to comply with the principles and objectives of this Privacy Statement.
i) In these scenarios: Examples of the limited scenarios where AncestryDNA may disclose personal information to third parties are: (a) with your knowledge and any relevant consents (for example, when you decide to share your Results with others); (b) as described in this Privacy Statement; (c) as may be required by law, regulatory authorities,or legal process;
On the bold above "as may be required by law" includes the fact that by "law" insurance companies can request that information. They are a regulated industry that can "by law" request certain health information about their potential clients. So "by law" they are private entities that can receive that information from AncestryDNA.
Don't know how I can say that any clearer, but it is true that insurance companies, especially life and long term care insurers can "by law" request certain health information about you and in a majority of states they can request information pertaining to genetic DNA because state (in a majority of states) and national law does not prohibit them from doing so via their regulatory authority.
Again though, people can do what they want. But to act like a life insurance company cannot request and use that information in their determining factor of pay outs or approvals of insurance policies is not something that people should overlook IMO. We can have differing opinions on the matter but IMO more people should be aware that doing these tests as a part of a hobby (which genealogy is) can indeed have more effects on their life especially in regards to insurance policies. As "by law" insurance companies can request that information from AncestryDNA and they do not have to notify you that they received the notification from the insurance company or have any sort of court proceeding. Just like insurance companies can review your medical diagnoses, your prescription history, your driving history (in the case of life insurance),your credit report, your criminal background, etc., without letting you know all of the documents/information that they will utilize up front. Once you are denied, you can always request they let you know the reason and you can also request that they provide you a list of the information they used to make that determination.
Also, as stated and I'm sure you are aware, life insurance and long term care insurance providers already are denying people these policies due to genetic predisposition to a disease after the insurance providers found out via a genetic DNA test. There is no law that prohibits it at the federal/national level.
Everyone should care about the potential for genetic discrimination. Every person has dozens of DNA differences that could increase or decrease his or her chance of getting a disease such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer or Alzheimer's disease. It's important to remember that these DNA differences don't always mean someone will develop a disease, just that the risk to get the disease may be greater.
More and more tests are being developed to find DNA differences that affect our health. Called genetic tests, these tests will become a routine part of health care in the future. Health care providers will use information about each person's DNA to develop more individualized ways of detecting, treating and preventing disease. But unless this DNA information is protected, it could be used to discriminate against people.
And:
Quote:
What's the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA)?
The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008, also referred to as GINA, is a new federal law that protects Americans from being treated unfairly because of differences in their DNA that may affect their health. The new law prevents discrimination from health insurers and employers. The President signed the act into federal law on May 21, 2008. The parts of the law relating to health insurers will take effect by May 2009, and those relating to employers will take effect by November 2009.
What's included in the law?
The law protects people from discrimination by health insurers and employers on the basis of DNA information. What's not included?
The law does not cover life insurance, disability insurance and long-term care insurance.
Last edited by residinghere2007; 10-05-2016 at 08:11 AM..
I disagree with the above reference re: "by law". Ancestry (or another testing company) cannot release your genetic information absent a court order or your consent. The key word here is "consent". The insurer can require your consent before it issues the policy. No consent, no policy.
Similarly, if an applicant fails to disclose the testing (or results) if requested, the insurer can later deny the claim.
FWIW, I have not yet seen a state law that clearly prohibits insurers (other than health insurers) from requesting this information. If a poster has links to one or two states that prohibit the non-health insurers from requesting DNA results, I'd like to read them.
And yes, I am an attorney, just not City Data readers' attorney.
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