Genetic Testing Company 23andme, once a favorite of Silicon Valley with a value of $ 6 billion, presented bankruptcy protection at the end of Sunday in Chapter 11 while preparing for a sale of the company. CEO Anne Wojcicki, who co -founded the company in 2006, also decreased after months of failed attempts to take the company privately.
As the uncertainty about the future of the company reaches its peak, all eyes are aimed at the Deep personal – and potentially valuable – general data that 23andme owns. Proponents of Privacy have long warned that the risk of giving genetic data to each institution is two -fold – the organization cannot protect it, but it can also hand over customer data to a new entity that they may not trust and not chose.
The attorney general of California Rob Bonta reminded consumers on Friday of a warning that Californians have a legal right to ask an organization to remove their data. 23andMe customers in other states and countries do not have the same protection, although there is also a right to remove health data in the My Health My Data Act of Washington and the general data protection regulations of the European Union. Regardless of the residence, all 23andMe customers must consider downloading everything they want to keep track of the service and then try to remove their information.
“This situation really brings home that there is still no national health legislation in the US that protects your rights, unless you live in California or Washington,” says Andrea Downing, an independent security investigator and co-founder of the digital rights non-profit led by the patient the light collective. “In the meantime, we continue to develop our understanding of how genetic information has value, but also has unique vulnerability.”
John Verdi, senior vice president of policy at the future of the Privacy Forum, says that the new owner of 23andMe could revise the company's privacy policy for new customers and new data collection, but the data it has already collected by current customers are subject to existing conditions. “The company has collected legal obligations with regard to information under current policy,” he says.
Nevertheless, researchers emphasize that in practice such a large transition will create real data exposure that falls outside the check of 23and me customers. “In my opinion, this privacy policy – especially in the context of acquisitions in the risk capital and the private equity space – the newspaper is not worth what they are printed on” “For ordinary people who use these services, you are almost alone. My advice is to be removed as quickly as possible”
To delete your genetic data via the 23andMe website, log in and go to Institutions In your profile. Scroll to 23andMe -Data And then click Reproduction. At the moment you can choose to download a copy of your genetic information. Then scroll to Delete data and click Delete data permanently. After you have started the process, you will receive an e -mail from 23andme to confirm. Click on the link in the E -mail to complete the deletion process. In addition, you can dedicate 23andMe to destroy the biological sample it used to extract your DNA data if you have previously authorized the company to save it. Go to Institutions and then Preferences.
