Societal Implications of the Internet of Pathogens

The growth of pathogen genomics shows no signs of abating. Whole-genome sequencing of clinical viral and bacterial isolates continues to grow in nearly exponential bounds. Reductions in cost driven by new technology have created a seamless environment for generating, sharing, and analyzing pathogen genomes. The high-resolution view of infectious disease transmission dynamics offered by analyzing whole genomes from pathogens, coupled with the genomicist ethic of widespread data sharing, has created a veritable Internet of pathogens, which inadvertently produces new threats to patient privacy and protected heath information. The health care system, and society more generally, have yet to explore the far-reaching privacy concerns raised by readily accessible pathogen genomic data. The recent use of human genomic databases, the existence of freely available alternative data and metadata sources, and lax regulation of collecting publicly available genomes to identify individuals in a criminal context raise concerning parallels about what is possible with pathogen genomics. The growing ability to ascertain culpability for infectious disease transmission at a nearly individual level could change our perspective on disease outbreaks from one based on public health to one based on individual liability. These technological breakthroughs in the absence of an understanding of potential privacy and liability issues lead to questions about the dominant paradigm of better living through pathogen genomics.