The numbers are there. They’re just a cash grab.
Where? Seriously, all research I came in contact with shows they are effective in changing driver behaviour long-term.
EDIT: Found this https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0001457513000572?via=ihub
rear-end collisions were found to increase by 39%
But also from the same study:
- Meta-analysis finds that RLC decrease all injury crashes by 13%
- Rear-end crashes increase, only at RLC intersections
- RLC are most effective when not all RLC-intersections are signposted.
So my understanding is that it’s even more effective when it’s not signposted (which is even more of a cash grab?), and although it increases rear-ends, it decreases injury crashes. That’s a net positive to me.
Also lots of studies referenced here: https://www.iihs.org/topics/red-light-running#effectiveness-of-cameras
And the conclusion:
Some studies have reported that while red light safety cameras reduce front-into-side collisions and overall injury crashes, they can increase rear-end crashes. However, such crashes tend to be much less severe than front-into-side crashes, so the net effect is positive.
If you really curious, it is possible depending on the sections of the DNA being shared and how aggregated they are. Not saying that this will be the case - it’s quite likely that this sale would be done prioritizing value instead of privacy - but it is possible. The key part is to not treat the whole DNA as a data sample, but specific sequence sections, as isolated as possible.
And the Netflix example is instructive but not super relevant here. If you already have your SNPs in a public database out there, then yeah 23andMe might not be able to effectively anonymize your samples; but you don’t (I hope).