How would you like to keep a record of your DNA, along with your most precious digital information, in one secure place? I’m not sold on its actual value either, but the folks behind the Swiss DNA Bank thinks you’ll actually pay for the privilege.
The concept is simple enough. Store a swab of your DNA in a secure location halfway around the world, for whatever purpose it may serve at some point in the future. Say, you become a bazillionaire and die without a will. All of a sudden, your estate suddenly gets ten random clowns claiming to be your illegitimate children. All your estate has to do is pull up that swab sample and get them tested to verify.
Apart from the genetic record, the Swiss DNA Bank also stores digital data in secure servers. I’m not entirely sure what kind of information you will want to entrust to a third party that masquerades as a “bank,” but the data service sounds like nothing but glorified cloud storage with beefed-up security.
How secure will your data be? The Swiss DNA Bank claims to follow the policies and security protocols of Swiss banking institutions, ensuring perpetual shelter for the information you’re entrusting their way. All servers (for the digital data) and storage facilities (for the DNA samples) will be housed in Swiss Fort Knox, a data center that claims higher security than your run-of-the-mill hosting facility. The office is located in a former military nuclear shelter, embedded in a mountain on the Swiss Alps.
Price for the service is a one-time fee of $598 for 4GB of your data to be stored in perpetuity, with another $100 for stashing away your DNA sample. Each additional person that can access your account will need to be paid for ($88) as well.
[Swiss DNA Bank via Red Ferret]