DNA analysis company 23andme has been in trouble lately: data was breached in a 2023 hack, and this September the entire board of directors resigned o

How to Delete Your 23andme Data Amid the Company's Turmoil

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2024-10-08 19:00:07

DNA analysis company 23andme has been in trouble lately: data was breached in a 2023 hack, and this September the entire board of directors resigned over disagreements with the CEO. That CEO, Anne Wojcicki, had said she was open to third-party takeover proposals; she only reversed that decision this week. The company is not currently for sale, but nothing about this is looking good—and it’s not clear what would happen to customer data if the company goes under.

So far there is no definitive word about the company being sold, with or without its data. However, it’s reasonable to expect that the company could be sold, and that owner could inherit the data. Something similar happened when MyHeritage bought Promethease, another DNA analysis company, in 2020.

Currently, your data may already be shared with other companies. If you signed up to participate in research studies through 23andme, “de-identified” data about you (including genetic data) has likely been given to research institutions and pharma companies. For example, 23andme has a data licensing agreement with GSK (formerly GlaxoSmithKline) to use the 23andme database to “conduct drug target discovery and other research.”