Biobank for America

Abstract

More than 300 million biospecimens - blood samples, saliva swabs, excised tumors - are housed in different collections all over the country right now. Meanwhile, biometric data is constantly being compiled by sophisticated security systems, by lifestyle products, and even by ordinary ATMs. Because private companies, hospitals, for-profit testing facilities, and security companies 'own' the information they collect, it can't work for you. Billions of dollars in grants are spent each year on focused medical studies seeking information that is most likely already available, but unobtainable. The availability of biometric information to researchers able to draw real statistical conclusions from it is impeded both by a shaky notion of individuals' privacy and the proprietary funding structure by which much of the information has been gathered. The data is out there - it's not a question of wanting to share personal data or not. Measures like the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act treat a symptom of the end of privacy, but by no means secure it. The only productive embrace of this national mine of information is to make it fully transparent, to make it available to the public and researchers alike, to nationally acknowledge the end of an antiquated notion of privacy, and to stave off the flow of research dollars into patented pharmaceuticals. The Biobank for America does just that by making transparent the collection and storage of biometric information on a national scale and finally collating it into a comprehensive, searchable archive.