The genetic test company 23Andme, once a Silicon Valley lover worth $ 6 billion, applied for the sale of the business on Sunday, while the episode 11 applied for the protection of bankruptcy. In 2006, CEO Anne Wojcicki, who founded the company, resigned after unsuccessful initiatives to take a special company for months.
Since the uncertainty about the future of the company reaches the summit, all eyes are in the trophy of the deep personal and potentially valuable data of 23andme. Privacy advocates have long been warned that the risk of entrusting genetic data to any institution is two -way – the organization cannot protect it, but may deliver customer data to a new asset where they do not trust and do not choose.
California Chief Public Prosecutor Rob Bonda reminded consumers A warning On Friday, California has a legal right to ask for an organization to delete data. Customers in 23 and other states and countries do not have the same protection, but Washington Province has the right to delete health data in the health My Data Law and the European Union for health data. Regardless of the residence, all 23andme customers should consider downloading everything they want to keep from service and then delete their information.
“This brings the point that there is still no national health privacy law in the United States unless you live in California or Washington in the United States. “In the meantime, we continue to improve our understanding of how genetic knowledge is value, but also has a unique vulnerability.”
John Verdi, Senior Vice President of the Future of the Privacy Forum, said that 23Andme’s new owner could review the company’s new customers and privacy policies for new data collection, but the data collected from the existing customers is subject to the current conditions. “The company has legal obligations regarding the information collected within the scope of current policies, or he says.
Nevertheless, in practice, researchers emphasize that such a major transition will create real data exposure other than 23andme customers. “I think these privacy policies – especially in the context of the purchases in the field of venture capital and private capital – are not worth the paper they are printed, Ken Kenn White, a security researcher and data confidentiality defender for a long time. “For normal people using these services, you are almost your own. My advice is to ask for your data to be deleted as soon as possible”
Login to delete your genetic data via 23andme’s website and then Settings In your profile. Shift 23Andme data And then click Opinion. At this point, you can choose to download a copy of your genetic information. Then scroll Delete data and click Delete data permanently. After starting the process, you will receive an E -mail from 23andme to confirm. To complete the deletion process, click the connection in E -Post. Also, if you have previously authorized the company to keep the company, you can direct 23andme to eliminate the biological example it uses to remove DNA data. Go and return Settings and then Preferences.
