A Attorney General has issued a hair-raising warning to the millions of customers of the 23andMe-based California and urged them to 'remove your data immediately' because the company is dealing with an imminent bankruptcy.
23andme, a biotech company that offers genetic tests through saliva samples to offer personalized health and finishing reports, is confronted with the threat of closure after the stock value has fallen sharply in 2021.
Attorney General Rob Bonta now urges the 15 million customers of the company to remove their genetic information, because the fate of this enormous, sensitive information remains uncertain if the company is closed.
“Given the reported financial need of 23andme, I remind the Californians to consider calling on their rights and set up 23andme to remove their data and destroy any samples of genetic material by the company,” Bonta said in a statement.
The statement, released on Friday, reminded the residents of the state to call up their right to privacy under the Genetic Information Privacy Act and California Consumer Protection Act.
The California Genetic Information Privacy Act (GIPA), which came into force in 2022, improves the protection of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which specifically protect the privacy of genetic data.
According to the law, companies are obliged to get explicit permission for the collection, use and disclosure of genetic data. Moreover, it gives consumers the right to gain access to and their data at any time.
Passed customers can permanently delete their 23andMe account and personal information by logging in to their account, by navigating the 'Settings' section and scrolling to the '23andMe' section at the bottom of the webpage.
The California's Attorney General Rob Bonta has issued a hair-raising warning to the millions of customers of California, which was located in California, and insisted on them to 'remove your data immediately' because the company is dealing with
23andMe, a biotech company that offers genetic tests through saliva samples to offer personalized health and finishing reports, is confronted with the threat of closure after the stock value has fallen sharply in 2021
Once at the bottom of the page, open on 'View' next to '23andMe Data' the 'Delete Data' section. From there you can select the 'permanent removal' option to delete your information.
The permanent removal of data will activate an e -mail from the company, including a confirmation link.
Customers must click on this link, as stated by Bonta, to verify their request to remove their personal account.
Genetic tests started to gain popularity for the first time in the 2000s, when companies started offering Thome test kits with which customers could send their saliva samples to laboratories for analysis.
Since then, prominent biotech companies have played a crucial role in promoting high-profile cold things, helping to conquer criminals by using DNA matching techniques, often left through family members or small traces of DNA.
The most notorious, genetic company GedMatch identified and arrested Joseph James Deango, known as the notorious 'Golden State Killer', via one of the DNA profiles of his customers in 2018.
23andme, founded in 2006, became another prominent test company that attracted widespread attention.
In 2020, the company was praised as the latest golden success story from Silicon Valley, with 15 million subscribers and a share race that exceeds Apple's.
In 2024, the company announced that it fired approximately 40 percent of its workforce and the arm of medicines development was closed. The board resigned that summer and only left his chief executive and co-founder Anne Wojcicki in office (photo)
Bonta is now urging the 15 million customers of the company to 'permanently remove' and 'destroy' their genetic information, because the fate of this enormous information remains uncertain whether the company is closed
The statement of Bonta, released on Friday, reminded the residents of the state to call up their right to privacy under the Genetic Information Privacy Act and California Consumer Protection Act
Celebrities and billionaires, including MediaMagnaat Rupert Murdoch and the now -chattered Hollywood -Mogul Harvey Weinstein, repressed Glitzy 'Spit Parties' to promote 23andme, whose personal genome service – the flagship product – was proclaimed magazine finding the year in 2008.
In November 2024, however, the share price took a dramatic decrease, which meant it was to be noted on the Nasdaq stock market.
A few weeks later, the company announced that it fired around 40 percent of its workforce and his arm of drug development was closed. The board resigned that summer and only left his Chief Executive and co-founder Anne Wojcicki in office.
Despite all its supposed sparkle and hype, the business model of 23andme was rejected as fundamentally defective. Once they had paid for their DNA report, there was little incentive for customers to stumble for more information.
Despite the insistence of Wojcicki that they 'planned' to take the business private private life, speculation was much that she should sell it or the company will just fold.
23andme not only has the genetic data of its 15 million customers, but also from their parents, brothers and sisters, children and even distant family members – who share a lot of their DNA – even though they have not given their permission to obtain it.
Research indicates that 90 percent of white Americans can be identified on genealogy websites, even if they have never submitted their own DNA.
In contrast to other personal information that we share on the internet, such as e -mail addresses, bank account codes and telephone numbers, genetic data cannot be changed.
Last year Professor from the University of California Nila Bala said that the implications of genetic data breaches are 'amazing' and 'in -depth risks'.
She and other experts warned that sensitive information about health and someone's genetic sensitivity to certain diseases can lead to discrimination in schools, housing and insurance.
“Your DNA can reveal a huge amount about your health and future health,” Suzanne Bernstein, legal adviser at the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington DC, told The Mail. “And that information that ends in the hands of someone is not what you expected when you signed up with 23andme.”
It will certainly not be news for everyone who uses the internet that everything they do and online reveals is systematically swept and sold to advertisers and other private companies, in what is now called the 'commercial surveillance ecosystem', so that they can target more effectively on potential customers for their products and services.
Prominent biotech companies have played a crucial role in promoting high-profile cold cases, the most notorious, genetic company GedMatch, that Joseph James DeAngelo, known as the infamous 'Golden State Killer', identified and arrested by one of the DNA profiles of its customers in 2018
If you can find it, the privacy policy of 23andMe says that if the company is sold, the personal information of a user can be transferred to the new entity as part of the deal
DNA -Information, however, frankly opens frightening new vistas of potential abuse. It can even be used to create biological weapons: the genetic information that means that fatal pathogens can not only be the target of specific battlefield opponents, but possibly with a very enemy population.
If you can find it, the privacy policy of 23andMe says that if the company is sold, the personal information of a user can be transferred to the new entity as part of the deal.
Although the VK and Europe have a stronger data protection legislation than the US when it comes to covering what happens to private information when a company is bankrupt or changes the owner.
However, the most difficult regulations are not protection when companies are hacked, what exactly happened with 23andme last year.
The data watch dogs of both the VK and Canada started a study last year into how hackers gained access to the personal information of 6.9 million people by using the old passwords of customers.
The stolen data do not contain DNA records, but it still increased the fear that 23andme will not do enough to protect data, while the theft has contributed considerably to the deteriorating reputation of the company.
The spectacular turnout and fall of 23andme is a warning story that tells us a lot about the Parlous State of Privacy in the Digital World and the risks of sending our most personal information to an industry that has a terrible state of service to protect it.
