A tried and tested privacy and security system keeps your information safe

You decide how much personal information to provide

You may choose any username when you register and change that username and/or password at any time. You may choose to store any or no information concerning your actual name, gender, age, ethnicity, town, state and country. The only personal information we require is an email address so that we can establish communication with you.

You have complete control over your private information

At deCODE, we believe that genetic information is both personal and private and that the only people who should be party to your genetic information are you and those with whom you choose to share it. That is why you have total control over access to your deCODEme account. In your settings, you can easily choose which of your personal attributes – if any – are visible to other users and friends. Should you wish to share any of your information (for example, with family or friends), options within your personal settings enable you to accept or reject offers for sharing. Any such sharing can be terminated simply removing that selected user from your list.

Thrid-parties cannot acces your data without consent

E-mail addresses are not made available to third-parties. Users can choose to opt out of deCODE newsletters and invitations to participate in future research studies. Likewise, your personal data will not be made accessible to a third party without your explicit consent. Additionally, US citizens are protected under the genetic non-discrimination act (GINA) that prohibits discrimination against individuals in matters of employment or healthcare coverage based upon the results of genetic tests or other genetic information.

State-of-the-art technology

At deCODE Genetics we have over a decade of leadership in gene discovery, data security and privacy protection. Our laboratories are CLIA certified and our entire IT infrastructure complies with rigorous security standards, such as ISO/IEC 27001:2005. Our web-based software solutions use top-notch cryptographic communication protocols and we keep up with the best software and firewall technology to make our web-site secure.

Read our privacy policy

deCODE’s experience in genetic research

This content was last reviewed on February 18, 2010.