So, 23andMe, the company that helps you learn about your family history, genealogy, and medical background, just announced that it’s filing for bankruptcy and will be selling off its assets. This news led California’s Attorney General, Rob Bonta, to issue a “consumer alert”. The company, which is based in California, has raised some concerns about what could happen to user data after the sale.
Bonta urged Californians to consider exercising their rights and asking 23andMe to delete their data and destroy any genetic samples the company holds.
The worry here is that, while users originally agreed to let 23andMe use their genetic information in certain ways, a new company that buys them out could use that data for entirely different purposes. According to The Washington Post, this could lead to some serious privacy issues.
Ginny Fahs, the director of product R&D at Consumer Reports’ Innovation Lab, explained that your DNA data could reveal a lot—everything from your ancestry to potential health issues. If that data falls into the wrong hands, such as insurers, it could impact your ability to get coverage or drive up your premiums for things like life, disability, or long-term care insurance.
While the alert was specifically aimed at California residents, many other states have laws that allow consumers to request the deletion of their personal data from companies, including genetic data.
For anyone worried about what might happen to their information, 23andMe users can currently visit the company’s site to delete their data and have their genetic samples destroyed during the bankruptcy process.
