Law / United States / 
Iowa
Genetic testing: informed written consent to obtain genetic information or samples, test, or collect, retain, transmit or use genetic information
In force.
A sensitive categories rule binding public and private bodies.
- Private right of action
- Yes
- Obligation class
- Consent, Prohibition
- Audit expectation
- none
As of .
What it requires
- Do not obtain genetic information, or samples for genetic testing, from an individual without first obtaining informed and written consent from the individual or the individual's authorized representative (Iowa Code 729.6(3)(a)).
- Do not perform genetic testing of an individual, or collect, retain, transmit or use genetic information, without the informed and written consent of the individual or the individual's authorized representative (729.6(3)(b)).
- You need no consent where federal or other state law lets you collect, retain, transmit or use the information without it, to identify an individual in a criminal investigation by a law enforcement agency, to identify deceased individuals, to establish parental identity, to screen newborns, or for medical or scientific research and education and medical repositories and registries whose information contains no personally identifiable information (729.6(3)(c)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text, as of .
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
An aggrieved employee, labor organization member, licensee or prospective one may sue under Iowa Code 729.6(8)(a) for a violation of subsection 3, and an aggrieved person, the county attorney or the Iowa Attorney General may seek an injunction in district court under 729.6(8)(b).
What this law does
Subsection 3 of section 729.6 of the Iowa Code bars a person from obtaining genetic information or samples for genetic testing from an individual without first obtaining informed and written consent from the individual or the individual's authorized representative.
Subsection 3 of section 729.6 also bars a person from performing genetic testing of an individual, or collecting, retaining, transmitting or using genetic information, without the informed and written consent of the individual or the individual's authorized representative.
Subsection 3 of section 729.6 lifts the consent requirement for collection, retention, transmission or use that federal or other state law permits without consent, for identifying an individual in a criminal investigation by a law enforcement agency, for identifying deceased individuals, for establishing parental identity, for screening newborns, and for research, education and medical repositories whose information contains no personally identifiable information.
In section 729.6, genetic information has the meaning given in section 1191b(d)(6) of title 29 of the United States Code, and genetic testing has the meaning given to genetic test in section 1191b(d)(7) of that title.
Subsection 8 of section 729.6 makes a person who violates subsection 3 liable to an aggrieved employee, labor organization member, licensee or prospective one, and lets an aggrieved employee, member, licensee or prospective one, the county attorney or the attorney general seek an injunction against an act that violates subsection 3. Chapter 1153 of the 2010 Acts, Senate File 2215, added the consent requirement to section 729.6 as new subsection 2A.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app processes biometric data, crawls the web, trains models or deploys a chatbot.