If You Used 23andMe, You May Want To Start Being Concerned
News is just filtering in that DNA testing service 23andMe has filed for bankruptcy protection.
Keep in mind that this company has been in trouble for a while. They got pwned in October of 2023. Then when the scope of the hack became clear, they tried to shift the blame to users via changing their terms of service. Then when even more came out about the hack, the company said it was the fault o f their users that they got pwned. Too bad there was evidence that the company was asleep at the switch for months. The company then tried to pay their way out of this. But it became clear that they were living on borrowed time. That left this question. What happens to customer data? That’s now a today problem for anyone who has used the service. But….
23andMe said in a press release that it plans to continue operating throughout the sale process and that there “are no changes to the way the company stores, manages, or protects customer data.”
On Friday, the Attorney General in 23andMe’s home state of California issued a consumer alert advising customers to delete their data from the site given the company’s “reported financial distress.”
IF you can do that, great. But one suspects that is going to be difficult, if not impossible in this case. I say that because the DNA of their customers is going to be insanely valuable as part of any sale. Thus I don’t see a scenario where users will be able to delete their data as a means to protect themselves.
Watch this space as this just got real for 23andMe users.
March 24, 2025 at 1:03 pm
[…] after posting this story this morning, I got a number of enquiries about how one can delete their 23andMe data. I did some […]