Reading the fine print when buying your genetic self online: direct-to-consumer genetic testing terms and conditions

Abstract

Contracts are ubiquitous online. Clickwrap and browsewrap agreements are to be encountered on almost every website a person engages with when accessing services online. Through these documents, people enter into binding contractual relationships, often without reading and sometimes without noticing these documents, when they engage with a wide variety of services online. This article discusses the use of contracts by the direct-to-consumer genetic testing (DTCGT) industry, as the dominant means of industry self-regulation. To date limited attention has been paid to these contracts. This article reviews the contracts of 71 companies that provide a variety of tests for health purposes. It considers these contracts from a consumer protection standpoint and identifies a number of problematic terms that may be challengeable under the UK’s consumer legislation and concludes by discussing the recent work potential for the UK’s Competition & Markets Authority to establish and enforce clear standards for DTCGT contracts.

Keywords

• direct-to-consumer genetic testing
• regulation
• contract
• unfair terms
• clickwrap
• informed choice