Genetic Privacy

Harriet Pearson,  Vice President, IBM Corporate Affairs & Chief Privacy Officer

Today's news on IBM's inclusion of genetic information in our corporate privacy & non-discrimination policy is a good example of--well--good timing!

My team and I had been working for months on the details of IBM's new corporate policy on genetic info--and no sooner had we set the date to announce to IBM employees our genetics privacy policy than a news development suddenly gave it an immediacy we hadn't anticipated. Last week, the commissioner of the U.S. National Basketball Assocation, David Stern, suggested that incoming rookies should be subject to genetic testing, to protect such first-year players and the team's investing in their future, from potentially fatal genetic anomolies.

Just a week before, I attended Esther Dyson's Personal Health Information Workshop  in New York to meet and talk to some of the emerging business and non-profit leaders in the health & wellness sector.  Esther moderated a terrific set of panels, with such people as the medical director of Canyon Ranch, the CEO of DNA Direct, a marketing person from P&G and a host of others.  It was great to get a chance to get input from some of the attendees on the genetics privacy policy we just announced to our employees today.

[Audiocasts from that workshop are available now.]

Clearly, the issue of the privacy and security of health information such as one's genetic profile is something serious people are thinking and talking about.

Also some not-so-serious people. Witness the recent attempt to auction the remnants of a cream puff reputedly eaten my Matt Damon, ostenibly to retrieve his DNA from saliva residue.

All silliness aside, I hope the fortuitous coincidence of these public events -- and many more that will certainly arise in the weeks, months and years ahead -- will promote the kind of discussion around the future importance of genetic security and privacy that our policy initiative today was intended to generate.

IBMHealthNex

Comments

[Greg]

Good timing indeed, and it certainly is nice to see a company as influential as IBM coming forward and setting such a wonderful example. Loss of genetic privacy is something we should all be nervous about.

At least now I can blame my lack of a basketball career on politics and privacy rather than my complete inability on the court!