California AG urges 23andMe users to 'delete their data' in grim warning about the biotech company
An attorney general issued a chilling warning to the millions of customers of California-based 23andMe, urging them to 'delete your data' immediately as the company faces impending bankruptcy.
23andMe, a biotech company offering genetic testing through saliva samples to provide personalized health and ancestry reports, has been facing the threat of closure after its stock value sharply declined in 2021.
Attorney General Rob Bonta is now urging the company's 15 million customers to delete their genetic information, as the fate of this vast, sensitive information remains uncertain if the firm shuts down.
'Given 23andMe's reported financial distress, I remind Californians to consider invoking their rights and directing 23andMe to delete their data and destroy any samples of genetic material held by the company,' Bonta said in a statement.
The statement, released on Friday, reminded state residents to invoke their right to privacy under the Genetic Information Privacy Act and California Consumer Protection Act.
The California Genetic Information Privacy Act (GIPA), which took effect in 2022, enhances the protections established by the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), specifically safeguarding the privacy of genetic data.
Under the act, companies are required to obtain explicit consent for collection, use and disclosure of genetic data. Additionally, it grants consumers the right to access and delete their data at any time.
Concerned customers can permanently delete their 23andMe account and personal information by logging into their account, navigating the 'settings' section and scrolling down to the '23andMe' data section at the bottom of the webpage.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a chilling warning to the millions of customers of California-based 23andMe, urging them to 'delete your data' immediately as the company faces impending bankruptcy
23andMe, a biotech company offering genetic testing through saliva samples to provide personalized health and ancestry reports, has been facing the threat of closure after its stock value sharply declined in 2021
Once at the bottom of the page, clicking 'view' next to '23andMe Data' will open the 'Delete Data' section. From there, you can select the 'permanently delete data' option to remove your information.
Permanently deleting any data will trigger an email from the company, which includes a confirmation link.
Customers must click this link, as stated by Bonta, to verify their request to delete their personal account.
Genetic testing first began gaining popularity in the 2000s, when companies began offering at-home testing kits allowing customers to send in their saliva samples to labs for analysis.
Since then, prominent biotech firms have played a pivotal role in advancing high-profile cold cases, aiding in the capture of criminals by leveraging DNA matching techniques, often through family members or small traces of DNA left behind.
Most notoriously, genetic company GEDMatch identified and arrested Joseph James DeAngelo, known as the infamous 'Golden State Killer,' through one of its customers' DNA profiles back in 2018.
23andMe, founded in 2006, became another prominent testing firm that captured widespread attention.
In 2020, the company was hailed as Silicon Valley's latest golden success story, boasting 15 million subscribers and a share price surpassing Apple's.
In 2024, the company announced it was laying off around 40 percent of its workforce and closing its drug development arm. The board resigned that summer, leaving only its chief executive and co-founder Anne Wojcicki in office (pictured)
Bonta is now urging the company's 15 million customers to 'permanently delete' and 'destroy' their genetic information, as the fate of this vast information remains uncertain if the firm shuts down
Bonta's statement, released on Friday, reminded state residents to invoke their right to privacy under the Genetic Information Privacy Act and California Consumer Protection Act
Celebrities and billionaires, including media magnate Rupert Murdoch and the now disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, thronged glitzy 'spit parties' to promote 23andMe, whose Personal Genome Service - its flagship product - was named Time magazine's Invention of the Year in 2008.
However, in November of 2024, its share price took a dramatic plunge, bringing it to the brink of being de-listed from the Nasdaq stock market.
A few weeks later, the company announced it was laying off around 40 per cent of its workforce and closing its drug development arm. The board resigned that summer, leaving only its chief executive and co-founder Anne Wojcicki in office.
For all its supposed brilliance and hype, 23andMe's business model was dismissed as fundamentally flawed. After all, once they'd paid for their DNA report, there was little incentive for customers to stump up for more information.
Despite Wojcicki's insistence that she 'planned' to take the business private, speculation was rife that she will either have to sell it off or the company will simply fold.
23andMe doesn't just have the genetic data of its 15million customers, but also of their parents, siblings, children and even distant relatives - who share much of their DNA - despite not giving their consent for the company to obtain it.
Research indicates that 90 percent of white Americans can be identified on genealogy websites even if they've never submitted their own DNA.
Unlike other personal details we share on the internet such as email addresses, bank account codes and telephone numbers, genetic data cannot be changed.
Last year, University of California law professor Nila Bala said that the implications of genetic data breaches are 'staggering' and carry 'profound risks.'
She and other experts warned that sensitive information about health and someone's genetic susceptibility to certain illnesses can lead to discrimination in schools, housing and insurance.
'Your DNA can reveal a tremendous amount about your health and future health,' Suzanne Bernstein, legal counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Centre in Washington DC, told the Mail. 'And that information ending up in the hands of anyone is not what you expected when you signed up with 23andMe.'
It surely won't be news to anyone who uses the internet that everything they do and reveal online is being systematically swept up and sold to advertisers and other private companies, in what's nowadays called the 'commercial surveillance ecosystem', so they can more effectively target potential customers for their products and services.
Prominent biotech firms have played a pivotal role in advancing high-profile cold cases, most notoriously, genetic company GEDMatch, which identified and arrested Joseph James DeAngelo, known as the infamous 'Golden State Killer,' through one of its customers' DNA profiles back in 2018
If you can find it, the privacy policy of 23andMe says that if the company is sold, a user's personal information can be transferred to the new entity as part of the deal
DNA information, however, opens up frankly terrifying new vistas of potential misuse. It could even be used to create biological weaponry: the genetic information allowing deadly pathogens to be targeted not only at specific battlefield opponents but potentially at an entire enemy population.
If you can find it, the privacy policy of 23andMe says that if the company is sold, a user's personal information can be transferred to the new entity as part of the deal.
The UK and Europe admittedly have stronger data protection laws than the US when it comes to covering what happens to private information if a company goes bankrupt or changes hands.
However, the toughest regulations are no protection when companies are hacked, which is exactly what happened to 23andMe last year.
The data watchdogs of both the UK and Canada launched an investigation last year into how hackers gained access to the personal information of 6.9million people by using customers' old passwords.
The stolen data didn't include DNA records but it still raised fears that 23andMe isn't doing enough to safeguard data, while the theft contributed significantly to the company's worsening reputation.
The spectacular rise and fall of 23andMe is a cautionary tale that tells us much about the parlous state of privacy in the digital world and the risks of consigning our most personal information to an industry that has an abysmal track record for protecting it.
