Congress Is Investigating 23andMe’s Handling of Personal Data

Republican lawmakers associated with the House Committee connected Energy and Commerce are probing the 23andMe bankruptcy retired of interest for Americans’ DNA information.

The troubled genomics institution has been successful a downward spiral ever since it suffered an unfortunate information breach successful 2023. The institution has since endured a maelstrom of struggle and controversy, including layoffs, litigation, and a plummeting fiscal valuation. In March, it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and has been looking for a purchaser for its familial information concern ever since.

On Friday, Congressmen Brett Guthrie (R-KY), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Gary Palmer (R-AL), sent a letter to 23andMe making respective inquiries astir the company’s handling of Americans’ data. The missive notes that a justice “recently ruled 23andMe has the close to merchantability the delicate aesculapian and familial accusation of its 15 cardinal customers, which is considered to beryllium the company’s astir invaluable asset” and states that, with “the deficiency of a national broad information privateness and information law, we constitute to explicit our large interest astir the information of Americans’ astir delicate idiosyncratic information.”

The missive notes that immoderate customers person reported difficulties successful deleting their accounts and information, and asks the institution to explicate however galore of those deletion requests person been fulfilled. It besides asks whether the institution has a “vetting process” successful spot to find whether its prospective purchaser has a “history of implementing information information protections and compliance with sectoral, state, oregon immoderate different information privateness and information laws.”

It should beryllium noted that portion the Republican missive complains of a deficiency of a “federal broad information privacy” law, lawmakers person lone themselves to blasted for this, fixed the information that determination person been aggregate (failed) attempts to walk specified a law.

Gizmodo reached retired to 23andMe for comment.

Concern for 23andMe idiosyncratic information whitethorn beryllium high, though the institution has repeatedly promised to proceed protecting customers’ information. A press release from March notes that to “constitute a qualified bid, imaginable buyers must, among different requirements, hold to comply with 23andMe’s user privateness argumentation and each applicable laws with respect to the attraction of lawsuit data.” In different words, the information privateness assurances that the institution presently promises volition beryllium carried implicit to immoderate institution buys the business.

You whitethorn consciousness that doesn’t magnitude to much, fixed the information that the institution has already allowed idiosyncratic accusation to beryllium compromised via its erstwhile information leak. If so, you tin inactive inquire the institution to delete your accusation via the process described here, courtesy of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.