Authored by Darlene McCormick Sanchez via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
China has aggressively collected Americans’ genetic information for years, and coupled with biotechnology advances, national security concerns have grown. Multiple states are now taking action to protect DNA data.
“You can actually take someone’s DNA, take their medical profile, and you can target a biological weapon that will kill that person or take them off the battlefield or make them inoperable,” Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said during the 2022 Aspen Security Forum.
“There are now weapons under development, and developed, that are designed to target specific people.”
One fear is that the DNA gathered by consumer genetic testing companies routinely used by Americans to trace ancestry or find relatives could fall into the wrong hands. In 2023, a hacker exposed the genetic data of about 7 million users of 23andMe.
When the company announced on March 23 that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, some privacy experts advised consumers to delete their data—a service that the company says it has always offered consumers.
“What we’re witnessing with 23andMe is a stark wakeup call for data privacy,” said Adrianus Warmenhoven, a cybersecurity expert at NordVPN. “Genetic data isn’t just a bit of personal information—it is a blueprint of your entire biological profile. When a company goes under, this personal data is an asset to be sold with potentially far-reaching consequences.”
And while more Americans use consumer DNA testing services, lawmakers on Capitol Hill have been unable to advance bills to prevent foreign adversaries from collecting genetic information from U.S. citizens, despite bipartisan support.
Most of the legislation to protect DNA is occurring at the state level.
As of November 2024, 13 states have enacted laws regulating direct-to-consumer genetic testing and ensuring that consumers have the power to protect their DNA. They are: Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming.
At least 11 states—Arizona, Utah, Nebraska, Tennessee, Kansas, Montana, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, West Virginia, and Rhode Island—introduced bills this spring to block China and other adversaries from gaining access to genetic data through sequencing equipment and software and to forbid DNA information from being stored overseas.
As of April 1, Utah’s bill failed, while Tennessee passed its measure into law.
Montana state Sen. Daniel Zolnikov told The Epoch Times that states needed to take the lead to protect DNA privacy from foreign adversaries such as China because Congress has failed to keep up with the threats.
“Their technology laws are decades outdated. If they’re not going to do it and they’re just going to give speeches and not actually legislate, I guess we’ll do it,” the Montana Republican said.
During the current state legislative session, Zolnikov is sponsoring the Montana Genomic Security Act, which builds on a 2023 genetic privacy bill that he sponsored and which was signed into law.
The privacy law prohibits genetic testing services from sharing consumer DNA information without consent and gives people the right to request the destruction of their genetic data and biological samples.
This year’s Genomic Security Act would “oppose the collection and analysis of genetic information for military and surveillance purposes by the People’s Republic of China.”
The bill blocks medical or research facilities in Montana from using genetic sequencers or software produced in or by a foreign adversary, a state-owned enterprise of a foreign adversary, a company within a foreign adversary, or an owned or controlled subsidiary or affiliate of a company domiciled within a foreign adversary.
Beijing has a military-civil fusion mandate that requires all Chinese companies to share technology and information with the communist nation’s military and intelligence agencies.
The bill also provides money to businesses to replace foreign equipment and prevents the storage of Montanans’ genetic data outside the United States without approval from the individual.
Violators would face a $10,000 fine for each offense. Victims would be allowed damages of not less than $5,000 for each unauthorized use of the person’s genomic information.
National Security Issues
Emma Waters, Heritage Foundation biotechnology analyst, warned that China’s potential collection of Americans’ DNA and health care information poses a significant national security risk.
“In the last decade alone, Chinese officials and military leaders have prioritized advancements in biotechnology as the future of warfare,” she told The Epoch Times.
“Chinese publications have discussed ‘ethnic genetic attacks’ that target a specific population as one avenue they are interested in pursuing.”
Waters said the U.S. government needs to ensure that health care records and genetic information aren’t bought or included in data-sharing agreements with companies tied to adversaries such as China.
Applications for biotechnology contracts in the United States that rely on federal funding should be scrutinized to assess potential national security risks and any connection with foreign adversaries, she said.
Although Congress is yet to pass a DNA-related bill, the bipartisan BIOSECURE Act was reintroduced in January, the House version of the Prohibiting Foreign Access to American Genetic Information Act of 2024.
The BIOSECURE Act would restrict federally funded medical providers from using foreign adversary biotech companies of concern, including BGI Group, formerly known as Beijing Genomics Institute, and its subsidiaries, MGI and Complete Genomics, along with another People’s Liberation Army-affiliated firm called WuXi Apptec.
The bill targets BGI, which in 2021 was blacklisted by the Pentagon as a Chinese military company. Five company affiliates also have been sanctioned by the Commerce Department, which accused at least two of them of improperly using genetic information against ethnic minorities in China.
“Beijing Genomics Institute collects genetic data of Americans [and] uses it for research with the Chinese military,” Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), chairman of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, said when announcing the legislation.
“The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will undoubtedly use the genetic data collected by BGI to further its malign aggression, potentially even to develop a bioweapon used to target the American people,” he said.
Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Gary Peters (D-Mich.) reintroduced the federal Genomic Data Protection Act at the beginning of March—it’s the same bill that was introduced last year but failed to pass.
The bill would allow U.S. consumers using at-home consumer DNA tests to delete their genomic data and request the destruction of their biological samples.
Read the rest here…
Loading…
