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Comment by paulcole | Hacker News Reader

Some of Sandy’s (current name of my startup) technology is borrowed from my friend Liz’s startup. She (Sandy, not Liz) will be able to diagnose disease and transmit test results via Bluetooth to your phone from just a drop of fecal matter. You’ll be able to say, “Hi Sandy, do I have worms?”, for example. Liz said her technology is not foolproof, but what is in this day and age?

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I am sorry if I am being rude... Don't you think its a huge issue of trust?. The data can be sold to insurance or advertising companies ( no HIPAA or other laws to protect the data here ).

I imagine having worms and other illnesses is a worse problem, than insurance and advertising companies.

Yes personal data protection it's a good thing to think about, maybe not the highest prio problem though.

If your insurance knows about the problem before your doctor, there are lot of grey areas which could be misused.

My startup checks for Leprosy. It's cheap and convenient. Just mail us any finger you have lying around.

Yes, Sandy will sell that information and use it to provide targeted advertising. EG if you have worms, she will announce ads and discounts for anti-worm medication.

We call it Sandy with special offers. If you'd like to pay extra you can get a special-offer-free experience. If you don't like the idea of any data collection you can just buy a cat litter box and have your own Sandy (without the added features).

Don't see how this is an issue.

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