How a bankruptcy judge can stop a genetic privacy disaster
1 min read
Summary
The fate of 15m people’s genetic data is in the hands of a bankruptcy judge after gene-testing company 23andMe filed for bankruptcy.
A bankruptcy court could require that users individually opted into any data transfer to the company’s new owners in order to protect their data.
If users don’t opt in, their data would be deleted; the new owner would have to earn user trust and build a business that delivers value to users.
This would impose no burden on those at risk of having their genetic data exploited, as they have plenty of DNA to spare.
Toysmart and Radioshack provide previous case studies for managing personal data in bankruptcy, with the latter eventually agreeing to destroy personal data to comply with promises made to consumers.
The case highlights the lack of meaningful engagement by US lawmakers with digital privacy since the early 2000s, leading to services that make deceptive promises that can be quickly abandoned.