The Pentagon is warning members of the military that DNA testing kits may pose risks, Yahoo News reports.
In a memo, which Yahoo News has posted, Joseph Kernan, the undersecretary of defense for intelligence, and James Stewart, the assistant secretary of defense for manpower, write that direct-to-consumer genetic tests "could expose personal and genetic information, and potentially create unintended security consequences."
The memo adds that there have been concerns about how outside parties may use genetic data for surveillance or tracking. Erin Murphy, a professor at New York University's School of Law, tells Yahoo News that genetic data could be used to track down covert operatives for revenge. "It's not hard to imagine a world where people are blithely sharing information online without realizing their third cousin is a Navy SEAL, or an operative of the CIA," she adds.
Both 23andMe and Ancestry tell Yahoo News that they take a number of steps to protect customers' privacy.