Personal genetics company, 23andMe, which holds data on more than 10 million people, has filed for bankruptcy protection, and all eyes are now on its priceless and potentially vulnerable genetic data.
The company’s future has been uncertain for some time, with its struggling to turn a profit since going public in 2021, demand for its ancestry and health testing kits declining, and its being hit by a major data breach in December 2023.
As 23andMe prepares for a sale of the business, all customers, irrespective of residency, have been advised to download anything they want to keep from the service, and then delete their information.
So far, there is no national health privacy law in the US protecting consumer genetic data rights; the only exception being California and Washington, as well as the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation.
