23andMe has filed for bankruptcy and cofounder and CEO Anne Wojcicki is out.
Its business floundered after a data hack, lawsuit, and tumbling stock prices.
Here is how to delete your 23andMe data.
Things have gone downhill for genetic testing company 23andMe.
CEO Anne Wojcicki resigned and 23andMe filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sunday — roughly six months after its board resigned, citing disagreements on the company’s strategic direction.
Data hacks, a class action lawsuit, and leadership tension between Wojcicki and the board have left 23andMe’s fate in the balance as it searches for a buyer.
Many have expressed concern a takeover or sale of the company could mean the sale of user data. The director of cybersecurity at Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit focused on digital privacy, previously urged their 186,000 X followers to delete their data from 23andMe. That post garnered more than 531,000 views in three days.
23andMe says the personal data it collects includes registration information like birth date, genetic information like a user’s genotype, sample information like saliva, and self-reported information.
Yet “beyond our contracted laboratory, with which we work to process a customer’s sample and deliver their results, customer information will not be shared with any other entity unless they provide us with consent to do so,” a 23andMe spokesperson previously told Business Insider.
The spokesperson said the company doesn’t share data with “employers, insurance companies, law enforcement agencies or any public databases.”
Users are still concerned, however, about their information.
“Data is data — once it’s out there, it’s very hard to control,” James Hazel, a biomedical researcher, told Business Insider in 2019.
Users who want their personal information removed from 23andMe can opt out in the “23andMe Data” section in Account Settings. But 23andMe says it is legally required to retain some information.
“While we will delete the majority of your Personal Information, we are required to retain some information to comply with our legal obligation,” the company’s website says.
“23andMe and/or our contracted genotyping laboratory will retain your Genetic Information, date of birth, and sex as required for compliance with applicable legal obligations… even if you chose to delete your account,” the company’s privacy statement says.
The privacy statement says 23andMe will also retain some information associated with user accounts, like email addresses.
