At-home DNA testing has become increasingly popular due to the ability to be able to gain both ancestry and health information, as well as connect with others who share your DNA. Do users have reasonable mental models of how these systems work? Do users have privacy concerns and what do they understand as the benefits and risks involved? We conducted 27 interviews with Canadian users of at-home DNA testing companies. Our interviews covered perceived and desired data use, data management, data sharing practices, control over data, and any regrets. Our qualitative analysis revealed that many users have inconsistencies in their mental models and liken their DNA data to their data stored with existing technologies, such as social media, rather than health data. They are generally either dismissive of privacy concerns towards themselves or their relatives or they had not considered privacy in their choice. We discuss our findings and propose possible future work in this area.

Decaying representations gradually make social media content less visible to readers over time, which can help users disassociate from past online activities. We explore whether shrinking, one decaying representation, influences managers' assessments and simulated hiring decisions of job candidates, compared to seeing a full profile or an empty profile with no posts. Our 3 x 2 between-subjects crowdsourced survey (N = 360 US managers) shows that shrunk or empty profiles led to more positive decisions than profiles in their original full format. However, shrunk profiles also further contributed to more positive impressions of the candidates. Shrinking did not help the candidate of either gender more than the other and demographics of managers had limited impact on their assessment. Further, our managers regularly search job candidates' social media profiles in real life, suggesting that shrinking could support users' privacy. We finally present implications for individuals' privacy on social media.