23andMe Is Crumbling, and That Means Your Genetic Data Is Blowing in the Breeze

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Genetics firm 23andMe, maker of the once-popular take-home DNA testing kits, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, casting a looming shadow over the extremely sensitive user data it’s still storing on its servers.

The company, which was founded almost two decades ago, has been in severely dire financial traits for years now, struggling to effectively monetize its service, which most customers will only buy once.

Now, its cofounder and CEO Anne Wojcicki — a die-hard for the company, who has made several takeover bids — has resigned, leaving behind a shell of its former self.

And that could spell a data privacy disaster of unprecedented proportions as 23andMe is more vulnerable than ever to being snatched up by another company — along with its treasure chest of DNA data.

In a “consumer alert” to California residents, the state’s attorney general Rob Bonta implored them to invoke “their rights” and direct “23andMe to delete their data and destroy any samples of genetic material held by the company.”

As the Washington Post columnist Geoffrey Fowler points out in a helpful piece, it takes just a minute to delete your data from the website.

Besides the threat of a takeover, consumer data could already be vulnerable to hacking. Case in point, the personal data of nearly seven million customers was exposed for a whopping five months in 2023, greatly undermining the company’s reputation.

Mass layoffs, including the resignations of most of its governing board, have left the company in tatters. Its share price has been turned into a penny stock, dropping well over 50 percent in value just today.

23andMe maintains that everything is fine, promising that there will be no changes to how it manages and protects people’s data, as CBS News reports.

But that shouldn’t dissuade users from deleting their data before it lands in the wrong hands. Besides, it’s not just their own DNA that’s at stake.

“If you gave your data to 23andMe, you also gave the genetic data of your parents, your siblings, your children, and even distant kin who did not consent to that,” privacy expert Carissa Veliz told the BBC in November.

In the meantime, Wojcicki is still hoping to pick up the pieces.

“While I am disappointed that we have come to this conclusion and my bid was rejected, I am supportive of the company and I intend to be a bidder,” she tweeted on Monday. ” I have resigned as CEO of the company so I can be in the best position to pursue the company as an independent bidder.”

“Our foundation was the trust and respect of our customers, and they were always the guiding light on how we made decisions,” she added. “If I am fortunate enough to secure the company’s assets through the restructuring process, I remain committed to our long-term vision of being a global leader in genetics and establishing genetics as a fundamental part of healthcare ecosystems worldwide.”

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