23andme faces an uncertain future – as well as your genetic data

DNA and the 23ndme genetic testing company in the event of disturbance after breaking the 2023 data and its continuous financial decrease. The giant, who was one day, faces an uncertain future It is also waving on the horizon on the companyIntensifying concerns about what may happen for genetic data for the work of 23andme about 15 million customers.

23ndme has been famous for salivary -based test groups, which is a glimpse of the origin of the genetic person, and has witnessed more than 99 % of its $ 6 billion peaks since it was publicly put in early 2021 after failing to make profit.

This lack of profit is due to the decline in the consumer’s interest in the 23DME testing groups that cannot be used and the dull growth of subscription services. The company was also ground by a Huge data breach for months This witnessed the stealing infiltrators of the ancestors of nearly 7 million users throughout 2023. The company Agreed in September To pay 30 million dollars to settle the lawsuit related to breach.

Less than a week later, 23ndme founder and CEO Ann Wogiki said she was “considering the suggestions of acquiring the third party”. WoJCICKI soon fell to the statement, instead, saying it is I planned to take the private company. However, the damage was caused, and all independent board members of the company resigned immediately.

After submitting it to protect bankruptcy in March 2024, the assets of the company-including the vast banks of DNA data-will be sold through a selling process to supervise the court. WoJCICKI also resigned from the company.

Where does this leave millions of genetic data for people?

23andme is largely binding on its own rules

As it becomes clear from the 2023 data breach, which witnessed the militants stealing information such as the genetic readiness of users and asset reports, 23andme collects a lot of information about its users.

If you are one of the many millions that you have shipped your saliva to 23andme to get to know your ancestors, you may have assumed that these data will remain specific to the law, such as the law of health insurance and accountability. HIPAA, as is known, determines the sensitive health information protection standards from revealing a person’s knowledge or approval.

However, 23ndme is not a company covered under HIPAA. As such, 23andme is not just associated with its privacy policies, which can change at any time.

Andy Keel, a spokesman for 23andme, Techcrunch that the company believes that this is “a more convenient and transparent model for the data we deal with, instead of the HIPAA model used by the traditional health care industry.”

The lack of federal organization and the chaos of the state’s privacy laws eventually means that if 23andme has a sale, the data of millions of Americans on the table as well. The company’s privacy policy says that the personal information of its customers “can be accessed, sold or transferred” as part of bankruptcy, integration, acquisition, reorganization or sale.

The fact that the customer’s data is for sale assets that have also been clarified by wojcicki, which According to what was reported, the investors were told 23ANDME will not follow up the cost -cost drug development programs and instead focus on marketing its wide database from customer data to pharmacist companies and researchers.

23ANDME confirms that its data privacy policies will not change in the event of sale. These policies stipulate that the company will never share user information with insurance companies, or with the application of the law without a judicial order. The latter has increasingly turned into DNA companies to an external party to obtain genetic information, but 23andme has so far resisted all American law enforcement requests for such data, according to To the long -term transparency report.

Potential buyers of 23andme are completely different ideas on how to use the company’s potential DNA data set. Privacy advocates at the Electronic Border Foundation for the Digital Rights Group And already urged 23andme to resist the sale To any company that has law enforcement links, warns that customer genetics can be used by the police to search randomly for evidence of crimes.

“Our commitment to applying our privacy policy conditions to the personal information of our customers in the event of sale or transportation is clear: the conditions of service will remain 23andme and explain the privacy in effect that customers are not provided with them, and to agree to new conditions and data – and only after receiving an appropriate notice of any new conditions, according to the laws protection laws in force,” Kill.

Delete your account proactive

Now with 23ndme bankruptcy, there are calls for 23andme customers to take action now to protect their data from selling them.

California Prosecutor Rob Punta said in a statement after 23andme submitted a bankruptcy that the state’s residents had the right to do so. Request to delete their genetic data Under the state law.

Merridith Whitaker, head of the exploration of the encrypted correspondence from one side, said in Posted on X: “Not only you. If anyone in your family gives his DNA (23andme), for all Sakes, close your account now.”

Eva Galbere, EFF, also warned users of taking action. “If you have a 23andme account, today is a good day to log in and request to delete your data.” After x.

It is relatively easy to request to delete your data on 23andme.

Log in to your 23ndme account and go to Settings > Account information > Delete your account. 23ANDME will demand your decision, excuseing that your account is always and irreversible.

There is an important warning. As mentioned in the 23DME privacy policy, the deletion of the account “is subject to certain retention requirements and exceptions”, which means that the company may stick to some of your data to get an unspecified time.

For example, 23andme will keep your genetic information, birth date and sex “as required to comply” and will keep limited data related to your deletion request, “including but not limited to, your email address, account request identifiers, communications related to inquiries, complaints and legal agreements.”

Likewise, if you have already agreed to share 23ndme for your data for search purposes, you can reflect this approval, but there is no way to delete this information. Kill Techcrunch tells that about 80 % of 23ndme customers – approximately 12 million people – agree to participate in its research program.

It was first published on October 19, 2024 and has been updated since then.