Calif. AG issues stark warning to 15 million 23andMe users as bankruptcy looms

[mountaineer]

New York Post
Calif. AG issues stark warning to 15 million 23andMe users as bankruptcy looms: ‘Delete your data’
By Chris Nesi   
Published March 23, 2025, 3:39 p.m. ET

California’s attorney general has urgently warned customers of 23andMe to purge their genetic data from the company’s databases over uncertainty where it may end up if the firm goes bankrupt.

“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,” AG Rob Bonta said in a statement Friday.

The company had been synonymous with at-home genetic testing for more than a decade, providing more than 15 million customers with a wide range of personal health and ancestry data.  ...

[mountaineer]

scott budman
@scottbudman
If you’re worried about your data on 23andMe: Here’s how to delete your DNA data on the site:
1. Sign in, go to “Settings.”
2. Go to "Delete Your Data.” You can download a copy of your data first.
3. Confirm DOB, and click “confirm.”
1:52 AM · Mar 24, 2025

https://twitter.com/esaagar/status/1904141511203131496

[corbe]

   Color me skeptic, nothing will be deleted no matter what you do.

[Wingnut]

   Color me skeptic, nothing will be deleted no matter what you do.

The CIA and NSA already have it.

[DefiantMassRINO]

The Chi-coms already have a copy.  They're using the data and AI to identify genetic vectors of attack to launch against the US military personnel when they invade Taiwan.

[mountaineer]

23andMe Files For Bankruptcy, CEO Resigns - Fate Of Americans' DNA Data Now In Court-Supervised Sale
by Tyler Durden
Monday, Mar 24, 2025 - 09:20 AM

Shares of 23andMe crashed in premarket trading on Monday after the genetic testing unicorn startup filed for bankruptcy in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, following a slide in demand for its ancestry kits and a data breach. The bankruptcy raises one alarming question about DNA security: What will happen to the genetic data of the company's more than 15 million customers?

23andMe announced that its CEO, Anne Wojcicki, has resigned immediately and will remain on the company's board of directors. She led the cash-burning startup that never turned a profit and once commanded a market capitalization of nearly $6 billion in late 2021. Shares plunged 44% in the premarket to $1.  ...

Let's see who buys this gigantic pool of genetic data—and whatever scheme they use to monetize it.

Trump administration should be watching over the sale to ensure Chinese PE firms do not purchase this treasure trove of US genetic data.

ZeroHedge

[Hoodat]

   Color me skeptic, nothing will be deleted no matter what you do.

Correct.  That's like when Google asks you if you want it to remember your passwords.  It's really asking you if you want it to pretend it doesn't remember your passwords.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

Meh... not sure why my DNA info would be valuable to anyone.

[Smokin Joe]

Meh... not sure why my DNA info would be valuable to anyone.

Health and Life Insurance actuaries, for starters.

More nefarious things come to mind, like inventing a disease that targets specific groups.

[Fishrrman]

Unless you had actually signed up with them in the past and provided a sample, would it be possible for your DNA info to be there?

If such a thing is possible, how would you find out?

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

Unless you had actually signed up with them in the past and provided a sample, would it be possible for your DNA info to be there?

If such a thing is possible, how would you find out?

No, not possible They're not sneaking into your house and swabbing your cheeks.

[mountaineer]

I'll admit to doing an Ancestry.com DNA test, because it was important to me to know more about my family tree. So now, any law enforcement agency in the land likely can get my results. Better not commit any crimes!

[Wingnut]

So now, any law enforcement agency in the land likely can get my results. Better not commit any crimes!

Or anyone in your family.  They can use your DNA to find a family member.

[mountaineer]

Or anyone in your family.  They can use your DNA to find a family member.

Not a problem. 

[corbe]

   In 1991 the US Military started gathering DNA of all its recruits.

[Wingnut]

   In 1991 the US Military started gathering DNA of all its recruits.

I saw that on NCIS.

[Sighlass]

The CIA and NSA already have it.

Yep, these companies have already sold out years ago. There was article after article of the police using this data to catch people for years now. These companies had the reputation of dirt via their privacy policy was next to non-existent and available for whomever had a few bucks to bribe them.

[Sighlass]

I'll admit to doing an Ancestry.com DNA test, because it was important to me to know more about my family tree. So now, any law enforcement agency in the land likely can get my results. Better not commit any crimes!

There were dna companies that were privacy conscious, most were not.

[berdie]

   In 1991 the US Military started gathering DNA of all its recruits.

My x-SIL said this as well.

[mountaineer]

UPDATE

Biotechnology company Regeneron buying bankrupt 23andMe for $256M
By MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP logo
Monday, May 19, 2025 12:41PM

Biotechnology company Regeneron Pharmaceuticals is buying 23andMe for $256 million, two months after the South San Francisco-based genetic testing company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

In March 23andMe said that it was looking to sell "substantially all of its assets" through a court-approved reorganization plan. Its co-founder and CEO Anne Wojcicki also resigned from the top post, but remained as a board member.

23andMe has faced an uncertain future for some time. Beyond battles to go private, the company struggled to find a profitable business model since going public in 2021. Privacy concerns related to customers' genetic information have also emerged, notably spanning from a 2023 data breach - along with questions around what new ownership could mean for users' data. ...
AP via 6ABC News

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

Health and Life Insurance actuaries, for starters.

More nefarious things come to mind, like inventing a disease that targets specific groups.

That can be made illegal, if it is not already. And these companies aren't exactly popular, seeing as an HC executive got outright gunned down last year, so it wouldn't take much for an employee to rat them out.

[Cyber Liberty]

I'll admit to doing an Ancestry.com DNA test, because it was important to me to know more about my family tree. So now, any law enforcement agency in the land likely can get my results. Better not commit any crimes!

I've never sent a DNA sample to anyone.  I always thought that the search for ancestors was a lure to get peoples DNA.  Looks like I may have been correct?

[Smokin Joe]

I've never sent a DNA sample to anyone.  I always thought that the search for ancestors was a lure to get peoples DNA.  Looks like I may have been correct?

My take, too. No, I never sent anything in (unless someone dug in my Cologuard for my DNA.)

[Sighlass]

Just sprinkle a little blood from a blotched test tube from a doctor's visit (or nose bleed) around a crime scene and you and your family are now under arrest. Instant frame job ... that could take you years to try to crawl out from under.

[Free Vulcan]

Never sent DNA, never given blood, no financial info on my cell phone, pay as you go phones, don't carry debt, use Paypal, when I was back in politics I even shredded my receipts and docs and paid for anything not routine in cash if I could.

Always keep the lowest profile you can.

[mountaineer]

If Regeneron does acquire the company, looks like they will try to resolve any lingering privacy issues.