DNAfacialpredictioncouldmakeprotectingyourprivacy more … Webpages...Parabon NanoLabs, claims to be...
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https://theconversation.com/dna-facial-prediction-could-make-protecting-your-privacy-more-difficult-94740?xid=PS_smithsonian 1/6 Authors Caitlin Curtis Research fellow, Centre for Policy Futures (Genomics), The University of Queensland James Hereward Research fellow, The University of Queensland Academic rigor, journalistic flair Technologies for amplifying, sequencing and matching DNA have created new opportunities in genomic science. In this series When DNA Talks we look at the ethical and social implications. Everywhere we go we leave behind bits of DNA. We can already use this DNA to predict some traits, such as eye, skin and hair colour. Soon it may be possible to accurately reconstruct your whole face from these traces. The science of DNA facial reconstruction is advancing rapidly. Composite from Parabon and PNAS DNA facial prediction could make protecting your privacy more difficult May 2, 2018 3.05am EDT
Transcript of DNAfacialpredictioncouldmakeprotectingyourprivacy more … Webpages...Parabon NanoLabs, claims to be...
7/31/2019 DNA facial prediction could make protecting your privacy more difficult
https://theconversation.com/dna-facial-prediction-could-make-protecting-your-privacy-more-difficult-94740?xid=PS_smithsonian 1/6
Authors
CaitlinCurtis
Research fellow, Centre for Policy Futures(Genomics), The University of Queensland
JamesHereward
Research fellow, The University ofQueensland
Academic rigor, journalistic flair
Technologiesforamplifying,sequencingandmatchingDNAhavecreatednew
opportunitiesingenomicscience.InthisseriesWhenDNATalkswelookatthe
ethicalandsocialimplications.
EverywherewegoweleavebehindbitsofDNA.
WecanalreadyusethisDNAtopredictsometraits,suchaseye,skinandhaircolour.Soonitmaybe
possibletoaccuratelyreconstructyourwholefacefromthesetraces.
The science of DNA facial reconstruction is advancing rapidly. Composite from Parabon and PNAS
DNAfacialpredictioncouldmakeprotectingyourprivacy
more difficult
May 2, 2018 3.05am EDT
7/31/2019 DNA facial prediction could make protecting your privacy more difficult
https://theconversation.com/dna-facial-prediction-could-make-protecting-your-privacy-more-difficult-94740?xid=PS_smithsonian 2/6
Thisistheworldof“DNAphenotyping”–reconstructingphysicalfeaturesfromgeneticdata.
Researchstudiesandcompanieslike23andMesometimessharegeneticdatathathasbeen
“anonymised”byremovingnames.Butcanweensureitsprivacyifwecanpredictthefaceofits
owner?
Here’swherethescienceisnow,andwhereitcouldgointhefuture.
Readmore:Isyourgenomereallyyourown?ThepublicandforensicvalueofDNA
Predictinghair,eyeandskincolour
DNAphenotypinghasbeenanactiveareaofresearchbyacademicsforseveralyearsnow.Forensic
biologyresearchersManfredKayserandSusanWalsh,amongothers,havepioneeredseveralDNA
phenotypingmethodsforforensics.
In2010,theydevelopedtheIrisPlexsystem,whichusessixDNAmarkerstodeterminewhether
someonehasblueorbrowneyes.In2012,additionalmarkerswereincludedtopredicthaircolour.
Lastyearthegroupaddedskincolour.Thesetestshavebeenmadeavailableviaawebsiteandanyone
whohasaccesstotheirgeneticdatacantryitout.
Traitpredictionsarebeingusedtoaddressanumberofquestions.Recently,forexample,theywere
usedtosuggestthatthe“CheddarMan”(theUK’soldestcompletehumanskeleton)mayhavehad
darkordarktoblackskinandblue/greeneyes.Thepredictivemodelsaremostlybuiltonmodern
Europeanpopulations,socautionmayberequiredwhenapplyingtheteststoother(especially
ancient)populations.
Thefullpicture
ResearchonDNAphenotypinghasadvancedrapidlyinthelastyearwiththeapplicationofmachine
learningapproaches,buttheextentofourcurrentcapabilitiesisstillhotlydebated.
Lastyear,researchersfromAmericangeneticistCraigVenter’scompanyHumanLongevity,made
detailedmeasurementsofthephysicalattributesofaround1,000people.Wholegenomes(our
completegeneticcode)weresequencedandthedatacombinedtomakemodelsthatpredict3Dfacial
structure,voice,biologicalage,height,weight,bodymassindex,eyecolourandskincolour.
Readmore:HowcopsusedapublicgenealogydatabaseintheGoldenStateKiller
case
Thestudyreceivedstrongbacklashfromanumberofprominentscientists,includingYanivErlich,
akathe“genomehacker”.Thestudyseemedtopredictaveragefacesbasedonsexandancestry,rather
thanspecificfacesofindividuals.Themethodofjudgingthepredictionsonsmallethnicallymixed
cohortswasalsocriticised.
7/31/2019 DNA facial prediction could make protecting your privacy more difficult
https://theconversation.com/dna-facial-prediction-could-make-protecting-your-privacy-more-difficult-94740?xid=PS_smithsonian 3/6
Evenwithaccuratefacialpredictions,Erlichnotedthatforthisapproachtoidentifysomeoneinthe
realworld:
anadversary…wouldhavetocreate[a]populationscaledatabasethatincludesheight,face
morphology,digitalvoicesignaturesanddemographicdataofeverypersontheywantto
identify.
Becausewithoutadetailedbiometricdatabaseyoucan’tgetfromthephysicalpredictionstoaname.
Adatabasetomatch?
ItturnsoutthattheAustraliangovernmentisintheprocessofbuildingsuchadatabase.“The
Capability”isaproposedbiometricandfacialrecognitionsystemthatwillmatchCCTVfootageto
informationfrompassportsanddrivinglicences.Initiallybilledasacounter-terrorismmeasure,there
arealreadyreportstheservicemaybeprovidedforafeetocorporations.
Atthesametime,theAustralianTaxOfficehasjustinitiatedavoicerecognitionservice.It’seasyto
imaginehowthiskindofsystemcouldbeintegratedwith“TheCapability”.
Andit’snotonlyAustraliaestablishingthecapabilitytobecomeabiometric,face-recognising
surveillancestate.IndiaisdeployingtheAadharsystem,andChinaleadstheworldinfacial
recognition.
DNAmugshots
Atpresent,mostforensicDNAprofilingtechniquesrelyon“anonymous”markersthatmatchidentity
toadatabase,butreveallittleelseaboutasuspect.Withadvancesingenomictechnology,forensic
geneticsismovingtowardteststhatcantellusmuchmoreaboutsomeone.
ThereareanumberofcompaniesthatofferDNAphenotypingservicesforafee.Onecompany,
ParabonNanoLabs,claimstobeabletoaccuratelypredictthephysicalappearanceofanunknown
personfromDNA.Policeforcesalreadyusetheirservices,includingtheQueenslandpoliceinarecent
caseofaserialrapistontheGoldCoast.
TheParabonsystemisalsobasedonapredictivemodel.Thiswasdevelopedbyapplyingmachine
learningtoolstotheirgenetic/traitreferencedatabase.Thecompanypredictsskincolour,eyecolour,
The Australian Government is building a facial recognition system called The Capability that will match CCTV footage toinformation from passports and driving licences. Queensland Government
7/31/2019 DNA facial prediction could make protecting your privacy more difficult
https://theconversation.com/dna-facial-prediction-could-make-protecting-your-privacy-more-difficult-94740?xid=PS_smithsonian 4/6
haircolour,freckles,ancestry,andfaceshapefromaDNAsample.Thesepredictions,theconfidence
aroundthem,andareconstructionmadebyaforensicartistareusedtomakea“Snapshot”profile.
Readmore:NewcryptocurrenciescouldletyoucontrolandsellaccesstoyourDNA
data
ThereisscepticismaboutthecapabilitiesofParabon.ItisdifficulttoassessParabon’ssystembecause
thecomputercodeisnotopen,andthemethodologyhasnotbeenpublishedwithpeer-review
scrutiny.
AswithanytypeofDNAevidence,thereisariskofmiscarriagesofjustice,especiallyiftheevidenceis
usedinisolation.TheutilityofDNAphenotypingatthispointmaybemoreinitsexclusionarypower
thanitspredictivepower.ParabondoesstatethatSnapshotpredictionsareintendedtobeusedin
conjunctionwithotherinvestigativeinformationtonarrowthelistofpossiblesuspects.
Wherewillthisallendup?
WeonlyneedtolookatidenticaltwinstoseehowmuchofourfaceisinourDNA.Thequestionis
howmanyoftheconnectionsbetweenDNAandourphysicalfeatureswillwebeabletounlockinthe
future,andhowlongwillittakeustogetthere?
Somefeaturesarerelativelyeasytopredict.Forinstance,eyecolourcanbeinferredfromrelatively
fewgeneticvariants.Othertraitswillbemorecomplicatedbecausetheyare“polygenic”,meaningthat
manygenevariantsworktogethertoproducethefeature.
Arecentstudyofhaircolourgenetics,forexample,examined300,000peoplewithEuropean
ancestry.Theyfound110newgeneticmarkerslinkedtohaircolour,butthepredictionofsome
colours(blackorred)ismorereliablethanothers(blondeandbrown).
7/31/2019 DNA facial prediction could make protecting your privacy more difficult
https://theconversation.com/dna-facial-prediction-could-make-protecting-your-privacy-more-difficult-94740?xid=PS_smithsonian 5/6
ThewaythatDNAcodesourphysicalfeaturesmightbedifferentinpeoplefromdifferentancestral
groups.Currently,ourabilitytopredictmodernEuropeanswillbebetterthanothergroups–because
ourgeneticdatabasesaredominatedbysubjectswithEuropeanancestry.
Asweemployincreasinglysophisticatedmachinelearningapproachesonbigger(andmoreethnically
representative)databases,ourabilitytopredictappearancefromDNAislikelytoimprove
dramatically.
Parabon’sservicescomewithadisclaimerthatthereconstructionsshouldnotbeusedwithfacial
recognitionsystems.Theintegrationofthesetechnologiesisnotimpossibleinthefuture,however,
andraisesquestionsaboutscopecreep.
Whatdoesthismeanforgeneticprivacy?
Despitethecontroversyaroundwhatwecandonow,thescienceofDNAphenotypingisonlygoingto
getbetter.
WhattherapidlydevelopingfieldofDNAphenotypingshowsusishowmuchpersonalinformationis
inourgeneticdata.Ifyoucanreconstructamugshotfromgeneticdata,thenremovingtheowner’s
namewon’tpreventre-identification.
Twins can show us how much of our face is in our DNA. Clard/Pixabay
7/31/2019 DNA facial prediction could make protecting your privacy more difficult
https://theconversation.com/dna-facial-prediction-could-make-protecting-your-privacy-more-difficult-94740?xid=PS_smithsonian 6/6
Genetics Privacy DNA Forensics DNAdata DNAprofiling WhenDNATalks
Protectingtheprivacyofourgeneticdatainthefuturemaymeanthatwehavetocomeupwith
innovativewaysofmaskingit–forexamplegenomecloaking,genomespiking,orencryptionand
blockchain-basedplatforms.
Themoreweunderstandaboutourgeneticcodethemoredifficultitwillbecometoprotectthe
privacyofourgeneticdata.
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