A warning from The National Counterintelligence and Security Center & the video from 60 minutes

[MelissaB]

I've tried for 10 minutes to come up with a good summary and can't. The video which is about the collection of data and how it's used by foreign countries is worth the watch even with the commercials in the beginning. It's important to us as a country and as individuals to address this issue.


A warning from The National Counterintelligence and Security Center

Earlier tonight, former NCSC Director Bill Evanina was featured on @CBSNews
"60 Minutes" discussing China’s collection of U.S. healthcare data and the risks it poses to our privacy & economic / national security. Watch Part 1 of the segment at:

Link to tweet

China's push to control Americans' health care future

U.S. officials say the Chinese government is trying to collect Americans' DNA, and they believe a recent offer from a Chinese company for assistance in COVID-19 testing was suspicious. Jon Wertheim reports.

Article and video in here: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biodata-dna-china-collection-60-minutes-2021-01-31/

Edited to add:

China gene firm providing worldwide COVID tests worked with Chinese military

Link to tweet

Exclusive: China gene firm providing worldwide COVID tests worked with Chinese military

SYDNEY (Reuters) - BGI Group, the world’s largest genomics company, has worked with China’s military on research that ranges from mass testing for respiratory pathogens to brain science, a Reuters review of research, patent filings and other documents has found.

The review, of more than 40 publicly available documents and research papers in Chinese and English, shows BGI’s links to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) include research with China’s top military supercomputing experts. The extent of those links has not previously been reported.

BGI has sold millions of COVID-19 test kits outside China since the outbreak of the new coronavirus pandemic, including to Europe, Australia and the United States. Shares of BGI Genomics Co, the company’s subsidiary listed on the Shenzhen stock exchange, have doubled in price over the past 12 months, giving it a market value of about $9 billion.

But top U.S. security officials have warned American labs against using Chinese tests because of concern China was seeking to gather foreign genetic data for its own research. BGI has denied that.

The documents reviewed by Reuters neither contradict nor support that U.S. suspicion. Still, the material shows that the links between the Chinese military and BGI run deeper than previously understood, illustrating how China has moved to integrate private technology companies into military-related research under President Xi Jinping.

More: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-genomics-military-exclusive/exclusive-china-gene-firm-providing-worldwide-covid-tests-worked-with-chinese-military-idUSKBN29Z0HA

[MontanaMama]

1. Bookmarked to watch after work tonight.

This is the stuff of horror movies.

[mopinko]

2. i dont usually worry about who has my dna.

but this? this worries me. imagine if they could develop a virus that hit everyone but them?

[live love laugh]

3. I watched the segment and I was immediately regretful that I had just sent off my DNA to Ancestry

during the holidays.

I did not, however, give consent to share my data. Of course I have no control over what they do with it and it's pretty much out there now available for use on their whims.

[MelissaB]

4. China gene firm providing worldwide COVID tests worked with Chinese military

China gene firm providing worldwide COVID tests worked with Chinese military

Link to tweet

I'm going to add this to the OP as well.