Researchers at the Whitehead Institute conduct "vulnerability research" to assess the likelihood of privacy breaches in genetic databases. They do so spurred by concerns over how this information might be sold or traded. They are: "able to identify nearly 50 individuals who had submitted personal genetic material as participants in genomic studies" (Fearer, 2013).

Their findings motivate the National Human Genome Research Institute to remove certain demographic information from the publicly-accessible portion of their genetic data repository.