Direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing is a growing world wide phenomenon and an increasing number of companies are starting to offer health-related genetic testing services directly to the public. Critics of DTC genetic testing have raised a number of concerns: the quality of the tests, the accuracy and adequacy of the information provided by companies, and the risk that consumers may be misled by false or misleading claims and may make harmful healthcare decisions on the basis of test results. Some have asserted that genetic testing should take place only through a healthcare provider and with adequate counseling. Conversely, advocates of DTC testing—primarily representing purveyors of DTC tests contend that a DTC approach enables greater consumer awareness of genetic disorders and can help improve their health and make beneficial treatment and lifestyle decisions. As regulation of DTC is still very limited the phenomenon can be expected to grow to also include large-scale single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) profiling, and thus raising a whole range of ethical concern, including that the tests are offered directly to consumers, outside the parameters of the medical or clinical genetics context, raises ethical concerns in all four principles of bioethics: non-maleficence; beneficence; respect for autonomy; and justice. It is unlikely that we will see the emergence of a common, harmonized approach to DTC testing, however, efforts to strengthen oversight of genetic testing generally, which are underway in many countries, will, it is hoped improve the quality of DTC genetic tests, and will able to outweigh the potential harms and benefits of DTC, which now is unclear and cause for careful consideration.