Frequently asked questions.
Short answers to the things people ask us most.
01Is Whale DNA a medical service?+
No. We are an educational tool that reads publicly available research databases (ClinVar, PharmGKB, SNPedia) and returns information in plain English. We do not diagnose, treat, or prescribe. Always discuss any change with your doctor.
02Why not just paste my genome into ChatGPT?+
A general chatbot pattern-matches from memory — it hallucinates what your variants mean, confuses risk alleles and DNA strands, and can’t tell an expert-reviewed pathogenic variant from junk. Whale DNA matches your actual genotypes position-by-position against the real clinical databases (ClinVar, PharmGKB, the GWAS Catalog), grades every finding by evidence (CPIC level, ClinVar review status), filters out the unreviewed noise, and only then uses language to explain what’s verified. The interpretation is database-driven, not model-guessed — and your raw file is deleted within 24 hours.
03How is my data protected?+
Raw files are processed in-memory on EU servers, used to generate your report, then irreversibly deleted within 24 hours by AWS S3 lifecycle policy. Your dashboard only ever stores the structured, anonymized insights you own. You can wipe your account and all derived data with one click.
04Which genetic tests are supported?+
23andMe (v3/v4/v5), AncestryDNA, MyHeritage, Living DNA, FTDNA, and any file in the standard rsid / chromosome / position / genotype format.
05What lab formats do you accept?+
PDF, PNG, JPG or CSV. We use OCR and pattern detection to extract test name, value and reference range in any language. If we cannot parse a file we will ask you to type in the key values.
06Which wearables can I connect?+
Apple Watch (Health app export), Garmin (Garmin Connect), Xiaomi Mi Band / Zepp Life, Fitbit, Whoop, Oura, Polar, Samsung Health. See the Guides section for step-by-step exports.
07What is the difference between Basic and Detailed?+
Basic is a free email with the top 20 most-studied variants from your genome. Detailed is a $10 one-time report that reads everything you uploaded together — genome + lab values + wearable trends + your symptoms — and delivers a personalized action plan. Detailed reports are saved to your dashboard.
08Do you sell my data?+
Never. We do not sell, share, or monetize user data in any way, ever. This is a paid product because we intentionally do not have the incentives to do so.
09Can I delete my account?+
Yes, from your dashboard. One click wipes every piece of data we hold about you — user record, reports, S3 files, and auth session. GDPR Article 17 guaranteed.
10Is this safe if I take medications?+
The PharmGKB analysis is specifically designed to highlight drug-gene interactions. Always share your report with your prescribing physician — it is meant to support their work, not replace it.
11Do you ship internationally?+
There is nothing to ship. Your report is digital. Whale DNA works anywhere in the world.