What happens to your DNA data now that 23andMe has filed for bankruptcy?
The company of genetic tests in difficulty 23andme has Filed for bankruptcyAnd his co-founder and CEO resigned. Now, its millions of customers wonder what happens to their genetic data and if it is safe.
CBC News listened to readers this week who have had concerns about the security of their data, how they can eliminate their personal information and what the new property could mean for them. We tried to respond as much as possible.
The news of the CBC contacted 23andme. The company replied indicating his press release and it is open Letter to customers.
First of all, what happened?
23ndme, based in San Francisco, announced on Sunday that he will try to sell “all his activities” through a reorganization plan approved by the court. The co-founder Anne Wojcicki, who made more failed acquisition offers, resigned from CEO. 23 and did not say if there are other interested bidders.
23andme was founded in 2006, with the promise to revolutionize the future of genetics and health care. The company has become known for its DNA test kits based on the saliva, purchased by millions of customers eager to know more about their ancestors-and subsequently sided in the research on the health and development of drugs.
But he faced an uncertain future for some time. In addition to the battles to become private, the company has fought to find a profitable business model since it became public in 2021. Then in 2023, The hackers exposed personal data of almost seven million 23ndme customers for a period of five months, facing a serious blow to the reputation of the company and aggravating its growth problems.
In November, The Company has fired 40 % of its workforce.
The 23andme genetic test company says hackers have gained access to the profiles of millions of users in October. Now, some customers are involved in a proposal legal cause against the company.
Is the company still in business?
YES. 23ndme says that it plans to continue working.
In a Open letter to customers published on SundayThe company wrote that “orders and subscriptions will continue as normal and all purchases or genetic tests kit sent for processing will be managed without interruptions”.
23 and added that customers still have full access to their accounts, reports and stored data.
Ok. So what happens to my data now?
Although the company’s privacy policies affirm that the data could be sold to other companies, 23andme says that customer data will remain protected.
In his recent Updated privacy policiesThe company writes that if it is involved in a failure, a merger, an acquisition, a reorganization or a sale of activities, “it is possible to access, sold or transfer your personal information as part of this transaction and this privacy statement will apply to your personal information as transferred to the new entity”.
However, the company has said that the bankruptcy process will not affect the way it memorizes, manages or protects customers’ data. His open letter to customers declared that “any buyer of 23ndme will be required to comply with the applicable law in relation to the processing of customer data”.
John Bringardner, executive editor of the Debtwire newsletter, observes that any new buyer of 23ndme will have to respect the regulatory approvals that guarantee that “customers’ data will not end up unscrupulous”.
But Toronto’s lawyer and Brent Arnold computer security expert said that his concern is that when a company is going bankrupt, the privacy issues and compliance are sometimes the last thing in mind.
“They are just thinking of overcoming the renovation, to survive the activity,” he told CBC. “So everything else becomes secondary, including the correct protection of your data.”
Are my data safe?
For those who wonder, you are not alone. The officials, including the Prosecutor General of California Rob Bonta, had questioned what would have happened to the genetic data collected by 23ndme. Last week, Bonta issued a consumption notice by urging customers to eliminate their accounts.
“Given the reported financial discomfort of 23andme, I remember the Californians to consider the invocation of their rights and the direction of 23ndme to eliminate their data and destroy any samples of genetic material held by the company,” he wrote on Friday.
On Tuesday, New York Public Prosecutor Letitia James He also encouraged customers to eliminate their accounts and protect their data, calling “the bankruptcy announcement of 23andme” concerning “.
THE Washington Post’s The editorialist of Geoffrey Fowler technology wrote on Monday that “unless you take measures, there is a risk that your genetic information can end up in someone else’s hands – and used in ways you had never considered”.
The current12:24Is your DNA safe with 23ndme?
Millions of people have shared their DNA with 23ndme, but now the company is in financial difficulties and has moved 40 % of its workforce. What does this mean for all the genetic information that the company holds?
Whoever will end up having 23andme at the bottom of the road is unknown and the experts notice that the risks remain.
“The personal data collected by 23ndme have always been at risk,” Bingardner wrote in a comment via and -mail to the Associated Press on Monday. It indicated the violation of the 2023 data which compromised the ancestral information for almost seven million 23and customers.
He adds that the litigation that lasted from the following of this violation contributed to triggering liabilities that eventually contributed to the current bankruptcy storage.
Arnold added that 23andme could be particularly vulnerable to hackers right now. “They are probably not so positive to reject an attack as they would be when they ran with complete funding.”
How could my data be potentially used?
In November, when 23ndme announced that it was firing 40 % of his employees, the professor of the University of Alberta Timothy Caulfield he told CBC The current That there are “reasons to worry” for your personal data, above all since not only have violations occur in the past, but could happen in the future – with any company.
Caulfield, a president of the research in Canada in the field of health and politics, observed that if you were prepared for genetic conditions and someone has discovered, the information could be potentially used for “harmful purposes”.
These nefarious purposes could potentially include the discernment of your relatives and ancestors, discover family secrets or reveal clues to the diseases you have or could be prepared, said Ginny Fahs, director of research on products and development for consumer relationships, in the consumer innovation laboratory, in Washington Post.
“If the data make their way to certain insurers, they could deny you the coverage or charge more for life, disability or long -term assistance insurance due to your genetics,” said Fahs.
There is also the risk that if the data are sold to a new company, they may want to use them in a different way, Fowler wrote on the Washington Post. Indicates the company Privacy Policy This says that your data could be sold or transferred as part of a corporate transaction.
Which protections are in place?
At the beginning of this month, the researcher Sara Gerke said, associate professor of law at the University of Illinois, New England Journal of MedicinePodcast that the United States have no complete laws on data privacy and that “the entire system itself has many weaknesses and does not correctly protect consumer privacy”.
However, the bankruptcy laws can offer some protections to 23 and customers, he added, above all since it is a public process in which regulators can intervene or difudic defenders can investigate the sale. However, there are also weaknesses in the bankruptcy system, added Gerke.
“And in the end it does not necessarily interrupt the sale of customer data to the best bidder.”
Arnold observed that although Canadian customers will return to the Canadian privacy law, Canada has not had much luck to enforce its privacy laws abroad.
“The bottom line is this: you don’t have much control over where [your data] is going. “
Can I delete my information?
Yes, with warnings.
Gerke said that people who are worried can be proactive by eliminating their accounts. However, it notes that this provides only “partial relief” because if you have already agreed to your data to be used for the research already published or included in a set of data, which cannot be withdrawn (on his Closing page of the account23 and note that your information will not be used for any future research).
In addition, 23andme clearly states that even if cancels your account, “will keep limited information” on you.
His Privacy PolicyThe company writes: “23andme and/or our contracting laboratory contract will maintain genetic information, the date of birth and sex as required for compliance with the applicable legal obligations … even if you have chosen to eliminate your account”.
The company explains that you can directly delete your account in your account settings. You can download your data to your personal device before deleting them.
