Speaker 1: Have you ever thought about how incredibly complex I spit is.
Speaker 1: It may only be water, but just aliva isn't simple.
Speaker 1: That remaining one percent holds incredibly meaningful information that could
Speaker 1: change everything. And I'm not just talking about your family
Speaker 1: treat Hi. I'm Barrett to Day Thurston. And on this
Speaker 1: season of Spit and I Heart Radio podcast with twenty
Speaker 1: three and Me, we explore how DNA isn't just about ancestry,
Speaker 1: it can also be key to understanding your health. Hello,
Speaker 1: and welcome back. On today's show, we have Bridget Todd,
Speaker 1: host of the podcast There Are No Girls on the Internet.
Speaker 1: Each week, Bridget chronicles marginalized voices in technology, the voices
Speaker 1: that have always been at the forefront of tech, but
Speaker 1: far too often go overlooked. Bridget has investigated how marginalized
Speaker 1: communities are more likely to be impact by technology and
Speaker 1: historically have been skeptical of data collection and privacy. So
Speaker 1: when Bridget decided to take a twenty three and Me test,
Speaker 1: she saw an opportunity to not only gain insightful information
Speaker 1: on our ancestry and health, but also to alleviate concerns.
Speaker 1: And she had light on exactly how twenty three and
Speaker 1: me protects your information. In today's episode, Bridget unpacks her
Speaker 1: own hesitancy about taking the twenty three and ME test.
Speaker 1: As a critic of tech, she's examined the ways that
Speaker 1: privacy policies can, but sometimes don't, protect the intimate details
Speaker 1: of our lives. But when she reviewed twenty three and
Speaker 1: These privacy policy, Bridget was very happy to see a
Speaker 1: clear set of guidelines in plain English to help better
Speaker 1: understand all the ins and outs. Bridget sits down with
Speaker 1: Zarena Kovac from twenty three of These Data and Privacy
Speaker 1: Team to learn more. But that's not all. Bridget also
Speaker 1: shares some of what she learned from her reports, including
Speaker 1: the discovery of a whole bunch of cousins she didn't
Speaker 1: know she had. I know the feeling, Bridget, I know
Speaker 1: the feeling. It's a very important episode that you don't
Speaker 1: want to miss. Let's listen is There Are No Girls
Speaker 1: on the Internet. As a production of I Heart Radio
Speaker 1: and Unbossed Creative. I'm Bridget Todd, and this is There
Speaker 1: Are No Girls on the Internet. So it's probably no
Speaker 1: secret to anyone listening that I consider myself to be
Speaker 1: a bit of a tech critic. I just think it's
Speaker 1: important to interrogate who has the power and technology and
Speaker 1: how that power is being used. And this has been
Speaker 1: particularly important to me as somebody who is traditionally marginalized.
Speaker 1: So last Thanksgiving and my cousin was telling her family
Speaker 1: all about how he used the ancestry and DNA kit
Speaker 1: and me to find out more about our family legacy
Speaker 1: and history. The entire family was listening to him, completely
Speaker 1: captivated while he talked about what he had found, and
Speaker 1: I could already feel all their eyes on me, like
Speaker 1: they were all just waiting for me to reign on
Speaker 1: the parade. But it actually sounded like he had found
Speaker 1: out some pretty compelling information that made us all feel
Speaker 1: more deeply connected to our family story, which frankly had
Speaker 1: always been a little bit murky, so kind of out
Speaker 1: of character for me. I actually started to get pretty
Speaker 1: interested in DNA and ancestry kits like twenty three and me.
Speaker 1: But as interested as I was, I was also really
Speaker 1: really hesitant. You know, I knew it could be used
Speaker 1: to learn more about my family, my background, and to
Speaker 1: learn more about my health so I can make more
Speaker 1: informed choices, But I also know this whole fraught history
Speaker 1: of people, particularly our people when it comes to things
Speaker 1: like DNA being misused or worse, used against us. So
Speaker 1: I checked out twenty three's website and was surprised to
Speaker 1: find a privacy policy written more or less in plain
Speaker 1: English that I felt like I could actually kind of understand,
Speaker 1: you know. I read a ton of tech privacy policies
Speaker 1: for there are no girls on the Internet, and I
Speaker 1: feel like I have a pretty could handle on them.
Speaker 1: But I am no lawyer or data privacy expert, so
Speaker 1: I still had a lot of questions. So I turned
Speaker 1: to an actual expert. Hi, I'm Serena kervac Um at
Speaker 1: twenty three and me and my title is UM Director
Speaker 1: Senior Privacy Council. So there, Bena. I know that you've
Speaker 1: kind of been in this privacy space for a while.
Speaker 1: How did you get into this work? How did this
Speaker 1: come to be something that you do for a living?
Speaker 1: You know, it was so random. One day I learned
Speaker 1: about the e f F, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and
Speaker 1: I was like, this sounds so interesting. You're thinking about
Speaker 1: digital identities and flipprints that people leave on the Internet,
Speaker 1: and um, I was in the midst of law school
Speaker 1: and I was like, uh, you know, I thought I
Speaker 1: was going to do intellectual property and I was not
Speaker 1: liking it, and un while I like, World of Privacy
Speaker 1: just seemed so fascinating, so um, I put all my
Speaker 1: eggs in one basket and just went for it. Yeah.
Speaker 1: E f F was one of my first for ways
Speaker 1: into thinking seriously about technology and sort of the implications
Speaker 1: of the trails that we leave online. And I had
Speaker 1: never really thought about it before, even as somebody who
Speaker 1: was like a super user of the Internet, until I
Speaker 1: really encountered their work. Yeah, and it's really good stuff.
Speaker 1: I think that they do a good job of making
Speaker 1: it very accessible and easy to understand and meeting people
Speaker 1: like who are regular consumers um and understanding like privacy
Speaker 1: and like what the Internet is like and what your
Speaker 1: data is. Okay, I'm so glad I'm talking to you
Speaker 1: about this because you're the expert. And when I went
Speaker 1: to do my twenty three and me, I of course
Speaker 1: had questions, and one of the things I appreciated was
Speaker 1: that the questions, like the answers about privacy on the
Speaker 1: twenty three and the side are actually like pretty plain English.
Speaker 1: I read a lot of privacy policies and I'm like,
Speaker 1: I'm no lawyer, I do not understand this. So I
Speaker 1: really appreciated that they're pretty straightforward and like I felt
Speaker 1: like I could have a handle on them. But I'm
Speaker 1: really that I'm talking to you because you're the expert.
Speaker 1: And so, you know, as we know, we're in this
Speaker 1: climate where folks, particularly people who are marginalized, are understandably
Speaker 1: pretty concerned about privacy when it comes to their data.
Speaker 1: Is that something that twenty three and Me takes really seriously. Yeah. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: you know, I think some of the things that you'll
Speaker 1: see all over our website is you know, choice and
Speaker 1: transparency being our key values in our privacy approach our customers.
Speaker 1: It's really important to us that our customers are in
Speaker 1: control of their data and we don't make any assumptions
Speaker 1: about the way that they want to share their information
Speaker 1: when we build out our features. UM customers make choices
Speaker 1: about whether they want to view certain sensitive health information
Speaker 1: or you know, with whom they want to share their information,
Speaker 1: whether they want to participate in certain features or programs
Speaker 1: such as DNA Relatives or twenty three and me research.
Speaker 1: UM and Customer choice also means allowing individuals to change
Speaker 1: their mind at any time. UM. You know, if you
Speaker 1: want to revoke your consent to participate in research or
Speaker 1: um DNA relatives, it's easy to do that at any time,
Speaker 1: Just go to your account settings and boop, you're out. UM.
Speaker 1: And these meaningful choices are also like they require transparency,
Speaker 1: and we work hard to make that information accessible, including
Speaker 1: presenting that information in a way that's easy to understand.
Speaker 1: And sometimes that can be hard, and it's an iterative approach,
Speaker 1: especially as you're dealing with like not only like the Internet,
Speaker 1: but genetic information and like there's a lot of you know,
Speaker 1: fun interesting things that can come out of that UM.
Speaker 1: And recently we've updated our privacy statement to add like
Speaker 1: more graphics and visuals to improve readability. UM. And we
Speaker 1: were very closely with our customer care team because they're
Speaker 1: the ones who really like talk to our customers, have
Speaker 1: that first touch to be able to address those privacy
Speaker 1: topics and concerns UM that are important to people. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's really helpful. I know there are so many reasons
Speaker 1: that a person might decide to undergo the kind of
Speaker 1: genetic testing that twenty three and MEDAS and you being
Speaker 1: part of the privacy part, you being part of the
Speaker 1: privacy team, I know that part of your job is
Speaker 1: to think about the risks involved than that, what do
Speaker 1: I have that right? Is that a big part of
Speaker 1: your job? Oh? Yeah, for sure. So at twenty three
Speaker 1: and me, I'm you know, there's me, and there's a
Speaker 1: whole privacy team that works cross functionally with like nearly
Speaker 1: every team in the company to think through how we
Speaker 1: use data and the risks involved so that we maintain
Speaker 1: not only our strict privacy commitments to our customers, but
Speaker 1: to also provide them with a secure and private place
Speaker 1: to learn about themselves and make sure we comply with
Speaker 1: a tapestry of evolving privacy laws. Um and we work
Speaker 1: a little closely with teams like product engineering, security, marketing, HR,
Speaker 1: coustomer care research and everyone in between to do that.
Speaker 1: Um and. So, when you think about it, privacy not
Speaker 1: only should be at the heart of every single cup organization,
Speaker 1: but especially a place like twenty three and me where
Speaker 1: we are dealing with such sensitive data. You know, whenever
Speaker 1: a new product or idea comes up, we work with
Speaker 1: our product and engineering teams very closely at the early
Speaker 1: stages to address those privacy risks early on. Rather than later,
Speaker 1: so it's not like an ad hoc solution at the end.
Speaker 1: UM and we also continue to work with you know,
Speaker 1: other UM stakeholders outside of our company, like the Future
Speaker 1: of Privacy Forum the FPF UM. It's a think tank
Speaker 1: and advocy advocacy group that's focused on data privacy. We've
Speaker 1: collaborated with them and other genetic testing companies to develop
Speaker 1: consumer genetic testing industry best practices. UM and twenty three
Speaker 1: and is also part of a Coalition for Genetic Data
Speaker 1: Protection UH, the c GDP UM and we work to
Speaker 1: advance legislation and policies that support privacy and security for
Speaker 1: UM genetic data, so all genetic testing companies will be
Speaker 1: held to that same high standard that we have. And
Speaker 1: so those are all of the great things that we
Speaker 1: get to work on as the privacy team. Can you
Speaker 1: tell me, like, walk me through some of the steps
Speaker 1: that twenty three and ME does take to keep people's
Speaker 1: data secure. Yeah, there's a lot that goes into that.
Speaker 1: So UM twenty three and ME is ISO sort of fide.
Speaker 1: We also hold other certifications to confirm our commitment to
Speaker 1: customer security and privacy. Um ISO certifications are awarded after
Speaker 1: extensive audits by an independent third party, so not within
Speaker 1: twenty three and me UM, and we've been identified, we've
Speaker 1: been certified under IS one seven oh one and twenty
Speaker 1: seven eighteen UM and we're the first directed consumer genetic
Speaker 1: testing company to be assessed against all those three standards.
Speaker 1: So that's what we do on like the security front,
Speaker 1: and there's a lot more. You know, we encrypted our
Speaker 1: customer data so that like it's obviously more secure, so
Speaker 1: INCRUP customer data. We limit access to customer data internally,
Speaker 1: and we store data like in segregated databases, so it's
Speaker 1: not like we just lump everything together UM. For example,
Speaker 1: of customers, registration information like their name an email is
Speaker 1: separately stored from their genetic information UM, and so this
Speaker 1: reduces the risk of and incentive to commit a breach UM.
Speaker 1: And we also empower customers to take UM take their
Speaker 1: like security in their own hands, and we give them
Speaker 1: tools like to step verification UM and other other like
Speaker 1: guidance materials and things like that to keep themselves safe
Speaker 1: and play that important role in maintaining their account security.
Speaker 1: What about for folks who might be genetically rare, who
Speaker 1: might be thinking like I have something particular about my
Speaker 1: genetics that I feel might identify me or there's particular
Speaker 1: ways that you all, UM could approach that kind of privacy. Yeah,
Speaker 1: definitely UM For twenty three and me customers, as I mentioned,
Speaker 1: like controls really important UM and how they how someone
Speaker 1: wants to use their data or share it, they get
Speaker 1: to make that choice. In addition to like the privacy
Speaker 1: and security protections that we've talked about, UM, we have
Speaker 1: the identification that we employ, so you know, removing that
Speaker 1: registration information from genetic information and so on. That's a
Speaker 1: measure of protection. We you know, store things in separate
Speaker 1: places so that things aren't on together. UM. Customers who
Speaker 1: want to participate in things like research, UM, they can
Speaker 1: rest as shirt that we do take many measures to
Speaker 1: protect their research participants and minimize associated with that participation. UM.
Speaker 1: Not only are there access controls for customer information UM,
Speaker 1: there are people you know, like we go buy role
Speaker 1: based functions, so like not you know, one person doesn't
Speaker 1: have access to every single customer at twenty three and ME.
Speaker 1: It really depends on what their role is and what
Speaker 1: makes sense for them to have access to UM and
Speaker 1: under our main research consent UM when we share research
Speaker 1: results outside of twenty three and ME, whether that's like
Speaker 1: in a publication or with a third party collaborator, we
Speaker 1: only share like the summary advocate information UM, and those
Speaker 1: summer results in twenty three and publications are like statistics
Speaker 1: or calculations UM that describe like the research findings UM
Speaker 1: about some genetic associations that were discovered. UM. So for
Speaker 1: an example, it's like, you know, in our study, variant
Speaker 1: X was present in five percent of participants and was
Speaker 1: associated with a higher risk of this disease. UM. And
Speaker 1: so if a customer chooses to UM not often to
Speaker 1: participate in research, or they were in research and then
Speaker 1: they change their mind, UM, they're still able to access
Speaker 1: all of the same reports and product features as a
Speaker 1: customer who is participating in the research program. So UM,
Speaker 1: you know, not only are there all these like different
Speaker 1: privacy and security safeguards UM that customers can take themselves,
Speaker 1: but we also make sure that we're really like keeping
Speaker 1: data segregated, keeping access really locked down limited. But we're
Speaker 1: also you know, in those instances like research where there
Speaker 1: is that collaboration with outside collaborators, you know, making sure
Speaker 1: that like that data is the identified, aggregated and really
Speaker 1: minimized UM really really minimize at risk to our participants. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean that's that's good to hear, and you kind
Speaker 1: of touched on it it, you know, especially given the
Speaker 1: kind of climate that we're in. I know, the big
Speaker 1: question everybody has every time I give any kind of
Speaker 1: information about myself to anyone anywhere, The big question is
Speaker 1: always like what third parties are they? Are they giving
Speaker 1: this information to write? Like I might consent to my
Speaker 1: information being shared with twenties three and me, but are
Speaker 1: they selling my data? Are they? Are they going to
Speaker 1: give it to police? Like? How are they working with
Speaker 1: organizations and institutions that are not twenty three and me?
Speaker 1: So can you tell me a bit about how twenty
Speaker 1: three and me handles data when it comes to third parties? Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: of course, I think. You know, like, just like every company,
Speaker 1: we have service providers who help us do the things
Speaker 1: that we do, from like operating the business to improving
Speaker 1: it UM And there's also you know, choices that a
Speaker 1: customer can make about how their data is being handled
Speaker 1: throughout the platform, like whether they want to participate in
Speaker 1: research UM and so in that case, if someone does
Speaker 1: participate in research, we only share their data based on
Speaker 1: their explicit consent, and you know again that whole participation
Speaker 1: is often entirely voluntary. So it's really about making sure
Speaker 1: that the customer is pretty aware of who they're sharing
Speaker 1: who their information will be shared with. Absolutely, Yes, that
Speaker 1: makes a lot of sense. And but there's so many
Speaker 1: other like genetic testing. You know, kids out there UM
Speaker 1: are there just sort of like talking to usually put
Speaker 1: me at ease in terms of like the privacy risks.
Speaker 1: But I wonder, like are their privacy risks associated with
Speaker 1: with genetic testing in general that folks should just be
Speaker 1: aware of if this is something they're going to decide
Speaker 1: to do for themselves. Yeah, you know, I think some
Speaker 1: of the main privacy risks consumer may have. Consumers may
Speaker 1: have UM concerned things like finding out stuff about themselves
Speaker 1: or their family that they may not be prepared to
Speaker 1: learn about UM and also law enforcement access into genetic
Speaker 1: data UM so at twenty three and me. UM customers
Speaker 1: are not automatically visible to others in the platform. You know,
Speaker 1: they have to UM opted to in a relatives and
Speaker 1: if they do, then they become visible to others and
Speaker 1: they can also see who their genetic relatives are and
Speaker 1: see those results. UM. Additionally, customers can also choose on
Speaker 1: an often basis whether they want to see health reports,
Speaker 1: particularly any sensitive health reports like our BRACA reports for
Speaker 1: breast cancer risks and UM. We have educational materials and
Speaker 1: training modules and things like that to also support and
Speaker 1: prepare customers for that kind of information that they might receive.
Speaker 1: And on the law enforcement access front, we are the
Speaker 1: first direct to consumer genetic custing company to publish a
Speaker 1: transparency report UM and that happened back in two thousands fifteen. UM.
Speaker 1: It details you know, the types of law enforcement requests
Speaker 1: that we've received and how we've responded UM. And this
Speaker 1: is updated on a quarterly basis, and so far, we
Speaker 1: haven't released any individual user data UM to any law
Speaker 1: enforcement UM. And you know, something to be aware of
Speaker 1: is also like that not all genetic custing companies share
Speaker 1: these same values UM that we might have a twenty
Speaker 1: three and so it's really important that customers who are
Speaker 1: concerned with things like law enforcement request or how are
Speaker 1: they going to become visible to other potential genetic relatives
Speaker 1: or you know, the health reports that they're about to
Speaker 1: get UM, those are things that are really important to
Speaker 1: look into, um before choosing a genetic testament provider. More
Speaker 1: after a quick break, let's get right back into it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: just ask someone, I mean, like, while I've got you here,
Speaker 1: as someone who knows a lot about privacy, what do
Speaker 1: you see as the biggest privacy risk today that folks
Speaker 1: should be aware of and have on their radar. Well,
Speaker 1: I don't mean for this to sound like a uh,
Speaker 1: I don't mean for this has done like a general
Speaker 1: sort of like response here, but I do think that
Speaker 1: one of the biggest privacy risks across industries, not just
Speaker 1: genetic genetic testing, is that technology is rapidly changing and
Speaker 1: evolving the way that we collect, interpret, use, share data,
Speaker 1: and the laws are not necessarily keeping up with that. Um.
Speaker 1: There are a lot of positives that come from technology
Speaker 1: changing so quickly, Like you know, you have more data,
Speaker 1: better insights, and there's more potential impact to your personal
Speaker 1: health and wellness. Um. However, like the privacy risks that
Speaker 1: come with that can be hard to predict. So it's
Speaker 1: important that customers and like companies especially embrace privacy by
Speaker 1: design values and get ahead of those risks. Um. Um, Yeah,
Speaker 1: get ahead of those risks. Yeah, are there are there
Speaker 1: any tips or ways that you would give folks to
Speaker 1: like try to stay ahead of that. Like I am
Speaker 1: someone who is I make a tech podcast. I try
Speaker 1: to stay plugged in, but even things change and I
Speaker 1: don't realize that, Like, are there are there ways that
Speaker 1: folks can kind of get ahead of that. That's a
Speaker 1: good question, I think, Um, you know, it's just really
Speaker 1: it's kind of hard. There's so much going on at
Speaker 1: any given time. UM. And you have certain industries that
Speaker 1: are like going to change the way that we see
Speaker 1: the world in ten years, like you know, machine learning
Speaker 1: and AI and so on. UM. But I think, like,
Speaker 1: you know, as a consumer, it's just really important to
Speaker 1: understand how your data is being used and whether like
Speaker 1: the values of a company are aligned with what you
Speaker 1: care the most about, you know, any given sort of interaction. UM.
Speaker 1: You know, as I mentioned for like genetic testing, what
Speaker 1: a lot of consumers tend to be concerned about is
Speaker 1: you know, law enforcement access or you know, what they're
Speaker 1: gonna learn and how they're gonna be coached through that experience. UM.
Speaker 1: And so you want to make sure if those are
Speaker 1: things that are important to you, that you will like
Speaker 1: find the right provider for that um so, short of
Speaker 1: telling you read the privacy statements and like I know,
Speaker 1: I know, sure, you know you like just being smart
Speaker 1: about like how you're engaging with companies and the data
Speaker 1: that you provide uh to them, I think is key.
Speaker 1: And you know, also understanding that these companies are like
Speaker 1: wanting to make sure that you're picking companies that are
Speaker 1: thinking about privacy by design UM where it's not like
Speaker 1: something that you wire on or you put into the
Speaker 1: back end and like or at the end of the project,
Speaker 1: and rather you think about it from the beginning. Like
Speaker 1: the way that we thought about segregating our databases to
Speaker 1: make sure that there isn't like one pool of data. Uh.
Speaker 1: That was something that was thought about the first days
Speaker 1: that three and Me was created um SO, and for
Speaker 1: you know, the time that that was the two thousands,
Speaker 1: that was pretty innovative compared to like some of the
Speaker 1: other companies out there, UM and so, I think like
Speaker 1: it's really about picking companies that think about privacy at
Speaker 1: the ideation stages and implementing those privacy by design values
Speaker 1: and thinking into their business processes UM that are going
Speaker 1: to be the clear winners for consumers who care about privacy. UM.
Speaker 1: The other piece of it, too is I think, you know,
Speaker 1: legislation is starting to catch up on these privacy issues. UM.
Speaker 1: And we've welcomed, you know, that's want to commit. We've
Speaker 1: welcomed a lot of legislation on the genetic privacy front.
Speaker 1: There's half a dozen date states such as California, Arizona, Utah,
Speaker 1: UM and more and that have legislated on genetic privacy specifically. UM.
Speaker 1: And we hope to see federal legislation on this front
Speaker 1: as well. UM that goes beyond Gina, the Genetic Information
Speaker 1: Nondiscrimination Act. UM. Yeah, awesome, that's really helpful. I have
Speaker 1: one last rapid fire question for you. What is it
Speaker 1: like to be in what I can only assume is
Speaker 1: a super male dominated space, you know, privacy law. If
Speaker 1: I don't know for sure, I don't have the data
Speaker 1: in front of me, but I feel like it's probably
Speaker 1: very male dominated. Is that is that accurate to say?
Speaker 1: Actually kind of surprising. One thing that drew me into
Speaker 1: privacy was that there was a lot of there is
Speaker 1: still a lot of women in privacy. UM. And you know,
Speaker 1: I think what the draw is is that it is
Speaker 1: very like it's very privacy is not something that like you,
Speaker 1: it's very um contextual, like there, you know, it takes
Speaker 1: a lot of understanding different cultures and um, understanding different perspectives,
Speaker 1: and so I do think it actually has a lot
Speaker 1: more of a diverse group of people then you usually
Speaker 1: might find another corporate functions. UM. And I also feel
Speaker 1: like at twenty three and me particularly um, you know,
Speaker 1: having a female CEO, we actually do have a lot
Speaker 1: of female representation in the company. So it's it's been
Speaker 1: a really wonderful environment from that end as well, um,
Speaker 1: not only being in privacy, but in a company where
Speaker 1: there is a lot of women, um being represented. I
Speaker 1: love that. I feel like I asked that question to
Speaker 1: a lot of women and so often they're like, girl,
Speaker 1: let me tell you it's but it's nice to have
Speaker 1: a refreshing answer that's like, actually there are a lot
Speaker 1: of women represented here, even at the top, and it's great. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's funny. You know. Over the years, I've actually just
Speaker 1: seen a lot more men showing up to the party
Speaker 1: a little late later, you know. UM, So it's it's
Speaker 1: been it's been great. I think like, um, this is
Speaker 1: going to continue to be a place where there's going
Speaker 1: to be a lot of diversity, because it's kind of
Speaker 1: a compartment of the job. To do it well and
Speaker 1: to think about privacy um in a thoughtful way, you
Speaker 1: have to have diverse perspectives at the table. After talking
Speaker 1: to Serena, I felt a lot better, and I actually
Speaker 1: did the test, and I want to share a little
Speaker 1: bit about what I learned because I think it's pretty cool.
Speaker 1: Like a lot of black families, my family ties are
Speaker 1: not all necessarily by blood. You know, my mom didn't
Speaker 1: grow up with our biological family, which means that I
Speaker 1: grow up with a lot of what we call play cousins,
Speaker 1: and a lot of the people that I called auntie
Speaker 1: were not actually related to me by blood. Now, this
Speaker 1: is just one of the many layered and beautiful aspects
Speaker 1: of black family dynamics. After doing twenty three and me,
Speaker 1: I found that I actually have blood cousins and I
Speaker 1: had no idea about one of whom is a professional
Speaker 1: hypnotist who actually lives in my same city, you know
Speaker 1: who knew. I also found that, like a lot of
Speaker 1: black folks, I am a carrier for the trait of
Speaker 1: the disease sickle cell anemia. Now that's different than actually
Speaker 1: having the disease sickle cell. It just means that I
Speaker 1: carry the trait for it, and it's actually really really
Speaker 1: common in black folks. According to the CDC, the United
Speaker 1: States incidents estimate for sickle cell trade was about seventy
Speaker 1: three point one cases per every thousand black newborns in
Speaker 1: the United States. And it turns out that this is
Speaker 1: actually super useful information for me to have because having
Speaker 1: this trade has been used as a pretty convenient explanation
Speaker 1: for when black people die in police custody, and if
Speaker 1: a disproportionate number of black folks have this trait, it
Speaker 1: can basically be used as a way to not direct
Speaker 1: more scrutiny when a black person dies in police custody.
Speaker 1: The president for the American Society of Hematology recently published
Speaker 1: a letter in The New York Times on the subject,
Speaker 1: call the rush to use sickle cell trade to exuplain
Speaker 1: away when a black person dies in police custody the
Speaker 1: professional misuse of science that further contributes to racial bias
Speaker 1: and social injustice in our country. So knowing that I
Speaker 1: have this trade can definitely be helpful for me in
Speaker 1: better understanding how I navigate this world as a black woman,
Speaker 1: and I learned it from twenty three and me listen.
Speaker 1: There are risks involved anytime you were giving your DNA
Speaker 1: to any kind of company. But for me, after educating
Speaker 1: myself about the risks, I actually felt okay to move
Speaker 1: forward and the information I learned about my family and
Speaker 1: my health was worth it. If you're looking for ways
Speaker 1: to support the show, check out our merch store at
Speaker 1: tangodi dot com slash Store. Got a story about an
Speaker 1: interesting thing in tech, or just want to say hi,
Speaker 1: You can reach us at Hello at tangodi dot com.
Speaker 1: You can also find transcripts for today's episode at tangodi
Speaker 1: dot com. There Are No Girls on the Internet was
Speaker 1: created by me Bridgetad. It's a production of Heart Radio
Speaker 1: and Unboss Creative, edited by Joey Pat Jonathan Strickland as
Speaker 1: our executive producer, Terry Harrison as our producer and sound engineer.
Speaker 1: Michaelmato is our contributing producer. I'm your host, Bridget Todd.
Speaker 1: If you want to help us grow, rate and review
Speaker 1: us on Apple Podcasts. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio,
Speaker 1: check out the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever
Speaker 1: you get your podcasts, and That's It on another Dope show.
Speaker 1: Did this episode inspire you to take a closer look
Speaker 1: at your health history, your genetic makeup. Who new DNA
Speaker 1: could reveal so much about our past while also holding
Speaker 1: the keys to certain health insights that may impact our future.
Speaker 1: I continue to be inspired by these stories, and I
Speaker 1: hope you do as well. Catch you next time. Listen
Speaker 1: to Spit, an original podcast from I Heart Radio and
Speaker 1: twenty three in the on the I Heart Radio app,
Speaker 1: Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Four