Congressman Tom Cole once stated, “Private ownership of property is vital to both our freedom and our prosperity.” This could not be truer, whether that includes one’s home, car, and the myriads of other types of real and intangible property.
Protection of private property rights is a cornerstone of both Texas and the U.S. While some would rather chip away at this cornerstone, others are strengthening it, brick-by-brick.
While new laws, such as HB 4 from 2023, protect Texan’s online personal data from being given to data brokers, new legislation has been filed to protect a different type of personal data: your DNA. SB 315 seeks to recognize that, “an individual has an exclusive property right in the individual ’s unique DNA.”
By defining DNA as a form of property, this legislation empowers individuals with the exclusive right to control the collection, use, and dissemination of their genetic information. SB 315 not only recognizes but creates protections around the privacy of one’s genetic information, and requires written, informed consent by the individual and/or their legal guardian before that genetic information may be alienated to other third-parties.
SB 315 does include exceptions in which informed consent is outweighed by necessity, such as during emergency medical situations as well as exceptions for law enforcement. These exceptions balance the need for privacy with the needs of society for public safety and general welfare. SB 315 also includes deterrents such as civil and criminal offenses for the actions at odds with this bill, highlighting the seriousness of the privacy of one’s genetic information.
Leaders in healthcare, legal, and ethical fields should move to ensure that the provisions of this bill are enacted, and that Texans’ private genetic data are afforded the full protection that other types of property are.