The California state government has issued an urgent consumer alert for troubled genetics testing company 23andMe, telling people to consider invoking their rights to have sensitive data deleted; that includes any genetic material 23andMe has.
23andMe was the first company to offer genomic testing, and said it has done so for more than 15 million customers since 2006. Now 23andMe has announced it is in financial strife, and intends to sell all or parts of the company at an auction.
Note that is in United States Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which is a legal process that lets businesses continue to operate while reorganising their debts. That's instead of shutting down completely.
Nevertheless, the California Attorney-General Rob Bonta said there is substantial doubt about the financially distressed 23andMe being able to continue as a going concern. Genetical information is extremely sensitive, not just for the people tested, but for their close relatives as well.
If you have used 23andMe and feel nervous about what will happen to your results, click on the above link for detailed instructions on how to delete it. 23andMe has said it will protect the data, and that customers will continue to have the rights to it. But it's uncertain how enforceable that promise is should a new owner come onboard.
Making matters worse, 23andMe was found to be hacked in 2023. That data leak was big, with information on nearly seven million people spilling out on Internet forums where it was being sold.
The hack seems to have been due to people reusing passwords and logins across multiple sites, so-called "credential stuffing".
As part of the leak, the hackers claimed to have data on a million Ashkenazi Jews, and hundreds of thousands of people of Chinese descent.
For several years now, privacy advocates have warned that sending your genetic information to a commercial company is a very bad idea, no matter how curious you are about your ancestry. It would seem wise to heed that warning before it's too late.
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