If you’ve ever submitted DNA to 23andMe, you might want to delete it – soon.
The genealogy company filed for bankruptcy last week, and its future – along with the fate of customers’ genetic data – hangs in the balance.
“If getting out of bankruptcy means that they're going to sell this data, or sell to a company that has less controls or lower ethics than they do with protecting the data, then if your data is with 23andMe, it could, you know, this other company might use it,” said Lou Rabon, founder of Cyber Defense Group in Pasadena.
Rabon said it’s unclear what future risks it could pose if your DNA ends up in the wrong hands, but the possibilities range from discrimination based on genetics to individually tailored viruses or biological weapons.
“People can use your name. They can use your Social Security number. They can, you know, use your credit cards. You can easily recover from that,” he said. “But if you lose your DNA information or it's in the wrong hands and they have the, you know, capacity to do something bad, that's existential.”
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Rabon said 23andMe customers can ask the company to delete their data and even destroy their original DNA sample. You can also download a copy of your DNA data while deleting it.
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