23andme users, a direct genetic test for the consumer, are urged to delete their personal data from the website after the company Bankruptcy In the United States on March 23.
This is why it matters.
What happened to 23andme?
If 23andme is bankrupt, it will be offered soon for sale after years of financial problems.
Since its establishment in 2006, the company has collected genetic information for about 15 million users – a data set that may now be offered for sale for the highest bid.
23ndme has offered services related to family origin and genetic features, and gradually expands in genetic readiness tests and other diseases.
Recently, the company has sought the axis of drug research.
In 2021, the company was announced with a rating of $ 3.5 billion, partly to raise funds for this new trend.
However, the difficult economic conditions and low sales left the company financially unstable.
In October, it delivered 40 percent of its working power and is now facing the deletion of the Nasdaq Stock Exchange after the price of its share decreased to less than one dollar this week.
What are the current risks of users?
In an open message to her customers, 23andme insisted that bankruptcy “does not change how to store, manage or protect customer data,” adding that any possible buyer “will be required to comply with the applicable law regarding the processing of customer data.”
Despite this promise, New York and California public lawyers urged the residents to log in to the site and delete their data.
Arthur Kaplan, Head of the Medical Ethics Department at the New York University Faculty of Medicine, expressed his doubts about the 23ndme promises.
Kaplan told Al -Jazeera: “If 23andme is truly bankrupt and someone is buying his origins, then what will happen is that their promises of confidentiality come out of the window. For the buyer, it is not possible to follow what 23andme said.”
“They can share data, and given the fact that the DNA analysis is now better than it was 10 years ago when all this group started, they may be able to get to know people.”
Is 23andme data protected under American law?
Unlike the European Union, the United States lacks a comprehensive federal data privacy law. Instead, data protection depends on a set of state laws and industry regulations.
Like other home acid test companies, 23andme is not covered through the main legislation that governs the privacy of health records, and the law of health insurance and accountability in the United States-known as HIPAA- because it has not been classified as a medical company.
Data can also be obtained from companies such as 23andme by law application under a judicial order or summons.
In one of the most prominent cases that include home testing and salads, California investigators used in 2017 an unprecedented site to determine Joseph James Diangelo As the “Golden State”, a prolific serial killer who was active between the mid -seventies of the twentieth century and the mid -eighties.
Why 23andme is controversial?
Even before bankruptcy, 23andme has faced criticism of her data security practices.
In 2023, infiltrators stormed the company’s systems and reached information approximately 7 million users. The company was later forced to pay $ 30 million in a collective lawsuit due to the breach.
The company’s scientific claims were also interrogated.
Kaplan said that 23andme claims that it could reveal useful information about the misleading ethnic heritage because the DNA can only provide a limited window in the origin of a person.
Kaplan said: “It was not logical to me that you could discover your ancestors from a genetic test because many of the necessary information, including where your ancestors lived and what groups they were mixing 200 years ago, we do not know.”
“Genes do not result through cultural categories such as Lithuanian or Panamania. There is no gene Costa Rica.”
Kaplan added: “I always thought that the company was collecting the DNA because it wanted to sell it to search,” Kaplan added.
“The full idea of the assets testing and the knowledge of your past was almost a taste and a transformation:” We will give you this great information if you give us your DNA. “
Who may buy 23andme?
As part of bankruptcy procedures, 23andme announced a 45 -day offer for its assets.
The former executive director and co -founder Ann Wajiki resigned from her position to make her own offer to the company.
“We have achieved many successes, but I am equally with the challenges we face today,” Wogiki said in a post on Monday.
“There is no doubt that the challenges faced by 23andme through an advanced business model were real, but my faith in the company and its future is not shaken.”
Since last year, WoJCICKI has made several offers to a special committee of independent managers to take the private company, but it has been rejected due to stock prices concerns.
How can users delete their data?
If you are interested in your data, here is how you can delete it:
- Log in to your 23ndme account
- Go to “Settings”
- Select “23andme Data”
- Click “View”
- Pass the “delete” option.
- Click “Delete the data permanently”.
- Approval of the request.
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