23AndMe, the company’s mailing self-test kit becomes synonymous DNA testingyes File for bankruptcy. Anne WojcickiHe co-founded 23andMe in 2006, and he resigned as CEO When a company tries to find a buyer Sales slowed four years after publication.
January 23andme says It is exploring options for sales due to slowing demand for its products and the consequences of major data breaches in 2023. In 2024, the company agreed to a financial settlement for the violation, which affected 6.9 million users. The company also announced layoffs About 40% of the workforce at the end of 2024. Recently, 23AndMe stock Fall below one dollarset it apart from the Nasdaq.
At its peak, 23AndMe became the most famous name in the emerging field of DNA self-testing, with users paying up to $99 for the kit, giving them some knowledge of their genetic makeup, potential relatives and ancestry. But the company’s momentum has slowed down in a $3.5 billion public offering in 2021.
How should you handle your 23andMe account?
Someone who uses 23andme and is worried about what might happen to sales data has a choice. you can Download your information and delete your accountin addition to deleting data, the company is also required to discard your DNA material.
Doing so will prevent your DNA information from being used in future research, but it cannot be deleted from already completed research.
exist Give customers attentionThe company said nothing has changed the way it stores, manages or protects customer data at the moment, and it is still opening up businesses and selling DNA kits.
“Through this process, we will seek to find a partner that shares our commitment to customer data privacy and allow our mission to help people access, understand and benefit from the human genome,” the company said in its post.
Read more What might happen to your 23andMe data.
“Take out the data”
Arthur Caplanperson in charge Department of Medical Ethics For decades, he has been criticizing 23AndMe at the Grossman Medical of Medaining at New York University.
“My advice is to take your data out of there. I won’t leave it there, maybe it’s too late,” Kaplan said.
He said he was not surprised by the news. Predicted in January.
“They are more interested in getting data,” Kaplan told CNET. “It’s a lovely amateur selling and receiving. But that’s not really the goal, it gives it the value it once had for billions of dollars.”
Kaplan said the company’s business model promises that he believes the information from his ancestors was unreliable in the beginning.
“I don’t think science is good,” he said, adding that the company’s sale has no legal obligation to ensure the privacy of the customer for another owner.
The risk is that data can be used in a way that people who hand over saliva unpredictable, Caplan said.
“DNA information is very sensitive – it can tell you things about parent-child relationships, and it can cause government agencies to go without you considering it,” he said. “Genetic data can be used to promote or market to you. A third party can decide that you are not eligible for insurance.”
