I actually view 23andme as a way to extract a bunch of SNPs cheaply. Nowadays it is commonplace and cheap but back then it was difficult. They let you download your data, they provide lineage reports, and can help you find distant relatives. Their health reports (risk associated with specific locations) are not allowed in most of europe. The good thing about 23andme is that there are millions of people genotyped now who can contribute their dna to open research databases. Some related companies have sprung up based on these data like GEDmatch , and promethease (which offers health reports even to europeans).
As for the privacy concerns i have a bit different views. I think it s debateable whether DNA is intellectual property of its owner and whether it could be protected as such. Very few humans can claim that their DNA information is the output of their labor, and it is very highly shared among humans, so there should be a discussion to what extent genetic information should be subject to fair use. Having widely available open datasets would reduce the value of these big centralized databases.
You've gone down Conflation Rd. again. DNA being "intellectual property" has nothing to do with privacy in this case. But having access to someone's DNA means their privacy can be more easily compromised. As others have pointed out your DNA also associates your relatives. While I can grasp the good, a DNA treasure trove like 23andme has will be used illegitimately at some point. We've been to this dance before and we know what it looks like when the music stops.
As for the privacy concerns i have a bit different views. I think it s debateable whether DNA is intellectual property of its owner and whether it could be protected as such. Very few humans can claim that their DNA information is the output of their labor, and it is very highly shared among humans, so there should be a discussion to what extent genetic information should be subject to fair use. Having widely available open datasets would reduce the value of these big centralized databases.