Alabamians have no guarantees of privacy for their data after submitting genetic samples to private companies to learn about their ancestry, but state lawmakers would like to change that.

A bill filed in the state legislature this session, called the Alabama Genetic Privacy Data Act, would require companies to get consent from consumers before sharing their genetic information with anyone else.

Currently DNA testing companies like 23andMe and Ancestry can sell customers’ data to other companies. That puts consumers at risk of having health insurers considering their genetic backgrounds when determining coverage, said the sponsor of the bill, Rep. Chip Brown, R-Mobile.

“That potentially could lead to them being discriminatory on issuing policies to certain individuals based on family histories,” he said, “And that’s something we have to protect.”

You can read more in an article by Sarah Whites-Koditschek and published in the al.com web site at: https://tinyurl.com/wprnep7j