The popular DNA test company applied for 23andme bankruptcy protection and announced that the founding partner and CEO Anne Wojcicki entered into force.
The company will now try to sell itself under the supervision of a court.
23Andme He said in the press release “There is no change in storage, manage or protection of the company’s customer data.”
On Friday, 23Andme’s Chief Public Prosecutor in California, considering the company’s “reported financial shortage”, issued a consumer warning that advised customers to delete their data from the site.
23Andme’s saliva -based test kits were once celebrated among customers and investors and helped to increase the value of the company to $ 6 billion (£ 4.6 billion).
But it happened Fight to survive.
Founded in 2006, the company opened to the public in 2021, but never made a profit.
In September, the company filed a lawsuit that claims that approximately seven million customers, who were exposed to 2023 data violations, could not maintain the confidentiality.
In some cases, computer pirates have access to family trees, birth years and geographical locations using the old passwords of customers. The data stolen according to the company did not include DNA records.
Two months after settlement 200 employees are definite40% of the labor force.
23Andme said that Joe Selsavage, a finance chief, will take over as a temporary general manager.
Mrs. Wojcickki will continue to work as a member of the Board of Directors.
He had tried to buy the company private, but it was not open to a third party.
23Andme – Once upon a time, Oprah Winfrey, Eva Longoria and Snoop Dogg had high profile approvals – struggling to redefine the business model.
There was not much to return when customers paid for a DNA report, and an effort to start a subscription service failed.
Efforts to use large data trophies have also decreased to move into drug development.
Except Mrs. Wojcicki, the managers of the whole company resigned Last summer, in a letter, saying that they left after they did not receive a satisfactory purchase proposal.
On Sunday, Mark Jensen, Chairman of the Board of Directors of 23andme, said that the company is determined to “continue to protect customer data and to be transparent in the management of forward -looking user data.”
He said this would be “an important issue in any potential transactions”.
However, this may not ease the concerns of some users about what is happening to the DNA they share with the company.
In the UK, it is accepted as special category data under data protection laws.
This provides legal guards if a firm is busty or changes hands.
When a DNA test company called Atlas Biomed stopped trading last year, Some customers left more questions than answers About what it means to them.
Prof Carissa Veliz – Privacy Is Power’s author – he said to the BBC before the most valuable personal data.
“If you gave your data to 23andme, you have also given the genetic data of your parents, siblings, children, and even distant relative who did not consent.” You said.
Additional reports by Liv McMahon
