TalkIBM Calls on Congress to Pass GINA
Do I have a bee in my bonnet about the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act? Perhaps. But so does IBM.
Did you know that in 2005 IBM became the first major corporation in the world to establish a genetics privacy policy that prohibits current or prospective employees’ genetic information from being used in any employment decisions? I didn’t until today.
Today IBM’s Chief Privacy Officer, Harriet Pearson, will testify before congress about the importance of genetic non-discrimination.
Pearson, architect of IBM’s genetic non-discrimination policy, will testify, “The reasons for making genetic privacy part of our broader discrimination protections are clear to us: first, a person’s genetic profile or makeup should be treated the same as other innate human characteristics, including one’s race, gender, national origin, sexual orientation, age or physical abilities. Simply stated, a person’s genetic profile is as natural and as inseparable from who they are as any other physical trait or attribute.”
IBM believes that genetic data or tests results are a valuable tool used in health diagnosis and treatments. One practical reason genetic information should be controlled is that in many instances test results only suggest a risk of developing a disease. It is IBM’s view that no employee should lose their health insurance or their livelihood because they have a statistical chance of developing a medical disorder.
Instead, such information can be — and should be — used to positive ends: enabling preventative lifestyle changes or tailoring medical regimes to reduce a patient’s chance of developing any disease their genes might incline them toward.
Kudos to IBM. Here’s hoping that other Fortune 500 companies follow suit.
More posts on GINA and privacy issues
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