What 23andMe's bankruptcy means for your personal data
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Genetic testing company 23andMe filed for bankruptcy Sunday, and Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares is urging people who used the service to delete their data from the platform.
Why it matters: That financial distress has sparked a big question for some of the more than 15 million customers who have used the company's services: What does a sale mean for the genetic data 23andMe stores?
Driving the news: On Tuesday, Miyares urged Virginians to delete their accounts and health information from the site as soon as possible.
- Virginia is one of a handful of states that has a genetic data privacy law (it was enacted in 2023).
- That means 23andMe has to delete Virginians' genetic data and destroy any biological samples on file within 30 days of receiving a request to do so, Miyares noted.
State of play: The lack of a repeat incentive for people to keep testing DNA was part of the company's downfall — for many customers, they spit in a tube, received their results and moved on from their data.
- Now, that data, experts have noted, is effectively up for sale — though 23andMe stresses "any buyer will be required to comply with applicable law with respect to treatment of customer data."
How it works: In the case of bankruptcy, mergers, acquisitions or other forms of reorganization, 23andMe says, personal information "may be accessed, sold or transferred."
Customers can delete their 23andMe account within their account settings, according to the company's customer care page.
- Scroll to the section titled "23andMe data" and select view. Users can download information they want to keep before permanently deleting their data. More comprehensive instructions are available here.
- After doing so, the user will receive an email asking them to confirm their request to delete their account.
- Some data will be retained to comply with the company's legal obligations, 23andMe notes in its privacy statement.
Go deeper: What else to know about what 23andMe's sale could mean for customer data: