California’s top legal official has issued an urgent advisory to customers of genetic testing company 23andMe, encouraging them to delete their genetic data from the company’s databases. Attorney General Rob Bonta expressed concern over the potential misuse of the data if the company, which is reportedly facing financial difficulties, goes under.
23andMe has been a leading name in the at-home genetic testing industry for over a decade, offering more than 15 million customers insights into their personal health and ancestry. Customers would send a saliva sample to the company, which would then conduct a detailed laboratory analysis for a fee of approximately $200.
The company enjoyed significant success for a time, with a valuation of $6 billion as recently as 2020. However, an attempt to rapidly expand into drug research and pharmaceutical partnerships, coupled with a data breach, raised concerns about the security of users’ information.
The company’s fortunes have since taken a turn for the worse, with its share price plummeting from over $320 in February 2021 to less than $2 per share. This has raised questions about what will happen to the sensitive data of millions of customers if the company goes bankrupt. The data breach in 2023 further heightened concerns about the security of users’ information.
Under the Genetic Information Privacy Act of California, companies are required to obtain explicit consent for the collection, use, and disclosure of any genetic data. The 2022 law also gives consumers the right to access or delete their data at will.
Bonta advised customers that they can permanently delete their 23andMe data by logging into their account, accessing the settings menu, and navigating to the data section. After clicking “view,” users can access the “delete data” section, where the option to “permanently delete data” will appear. The company will then send an email confirming the request, which users must click to verify before the data will be deleted.