#23andme

[dduane]

23AndMe is circling the drain. GET YOUR DATA OUT OF THERE!

“To Delete Genetic Data from 23andMe:

Consumers can delete their account and personal information by taking the following steps:

Log into your 23andMe account on their website. 

Go to the “Settings” section of your profile.

Scroll to a section labeled “23andMe Data” at the bottom of the page. 

Click “View” next to “23andMe Data”

Download your data: If you want a copy of your genetic data for personal storage, choose the option to download it to your device before proceeding.

Scroll to the “Delete Data” section. 

Click “Permanently Delete Data.” 

Confirm your request: You’ll receive an email from 23andMe; follow the link in the email to confirm your deletion request.”

[ayeforscotland]

If you have ever used 23andMe, they have now filed for bankruptcy and will be asset stripped. Delete your account information as soon as possible.

[prokopetz]

Speaking from the perspective of someone who's worked in the tech industry for thirty years, the thing about personal data privacy policies for online services is that, nearly without exception, they contain provisos allowing your data to be shared with third parties to the extent that doing so is necessary to provide the service that's being offered – and, critically, unless they're literally forced to do so by law, who these third parties are and what constitutes "necessary" sharing will not be defined. This vagueness is routinely exploited by entering into sham partnerships with interested parties who, on paper, are providing the data holder with unspecified consulting services, thereby allowing the data in question to be shared with practically anyone while adhering to the letter of any relevant privacy policy.

All of which is to say that 23andMe has absolutely been selling your genetic data this whole time. The only reason they're asking a judge for official permission to do so now is because being in bankruptcy means they actually need to explain what it is that they're doing.

[hunter-rodrigez]

23 and bankruptcy

March 24th 2025 In case you haven't heard, 23andme just announced they're filing for bankruptcy.

God knows what whoever buys the massive amounts of hoarded DNA data, will do with it.

Anyway, customers are advised to delete their data, even though 23and, of course, keeps a lot of your data even if you delete your account.

[probablyasocialecologist]

First, let’s address the fact that hackers recently accessed the personal data of about 14,000 23andMe customers. Because of how 23andMe works—it has a “DNA Relatives” feature that lets users find people they are probably related to—this breach created 6.9 million “other users” who had data stolen in the breach, according to reporting by TechCrunch. This data included people’s names, birth year, relationships, percentage of DNA shared with other 23andMe users, and ancestry reports.

[...]

Getting your DNA or your loved ones’ DNA sequenced means you are potentially putting people who are related to those people at risk in ways that are easily predictable, but also in ways we cannot yet predict because these databases are still relatively new. I am writing this article right now because of the hack, but my stance on this issue has been the same for years, for reasons outside of the hack. In 2016, I moderated a panel at SXSW called “Is Your Biological Data Safe?,” which was broadly about the privacy implications of companies and other entities creating gigantic databases of people’s genetic code. This panel’s experts included a 23andMe executive as well as an FBI field agent. Everyone on the panel and everyone in the industry agrees that genetic information is potentially very sensitive, and the use of DNA to solve crimes is obviously well established.  At the time, many of the possible dangers of providing your genome to a DNA sequencing company were hypothetical. Since then, many of the hypothetical issues we discussed have become a reality in one way or another. For example, on that panel, we discussed the work of an artist who was turning lost strands of hair, wads of chewing gum, and other found DNA into visual genetic “portraits” of people. Last year, the Edmonton Police Service, using a company called Parabon, used a similar process to create 3D images of crime suspects using DNA from the case. The police had no idea if the portrait they generated actually looked like the suspect they wanted, and the practice is incredibly concerning. To its credit, 23andMe itself has steadfastly resisted law enforcement requests for information, but other large databases of genetic information have been used to solve crimes. Both 23andMe and Ancestry are regularly the recipients of law enforcement requests for data, meaning police do see these companies as potentially valuable data mines. 

[macmanx]

“California has robust privacy laws that allow consumers to take control and request that a company delete their genetic data,” said Attorney General Bonta. “Given 23andMe’s reported financial distress, I remind Californians to consider invoking their rights and directing 23andMe to delete their data and destroy any samples of genetic material held by the company.”

[patternwelded-quill]

If you use 23andme, this might be concerning to you. TL;DR: they can sell their DNA data, it's 'protected' and 'secure' but their privacy policy also says they can change that at any time. You're on the auction block for their bankruptcy profit recoup.

[onlytiktoks]

[salvadorbonaparte]

Obligatory disclaimer that these tests don't mean anything and are also kinda sketchy but I got curious about some gaps in my family history and did a 23andme and two interesting results:

I have more Eastern European DNA than expected

I have like 1 distant Jewish ancestor which is so funny as a convert (in progress) because like yes I get you random unknown ancestor. It's you and me against the world.

[ralfmaximus]

"Hackers stealing data from a genetic testing company" sounds like a cyberpunk rpg side mission.

[dduane]

Folks -- if these people have any of your data, this is a really good time to DELETE IT. They're circling the drain, and there's no way to tell who'll get their mitts on that data once they fully go under.

[sweetforpain]

OMG IM 23

[allthegeopolitics]

Canada's privacy commissioner is teaming up with his U.K. counterpart to investigate a data breach discovered last year at 23andMe. Philippe Dufresne's office says the joint investigation with U.K. Information Commissioner John Edwards will aim to determine the scope of the October 2023 breach at the direct-to-consumer genetic testing company. They will also look into whether 23andMe had proper safeguards to protect the highly sensitive information it handled and whether the company adequately notified regulators and affected individuals about the breach.

Continue Reading.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

If you've ever used 23andMe to learn more about your family ancestry, you could be eligible for compensation due to a class-action lawsuit against the company.

Law firms in Toronto and Vancouver launched a class-action lawsuit against 23andMe this week in response to a data breach that exposed users’ highly sensitive and valuable personal information earlier this year.

"The action alleges that contrary to their promises, statements and representations, as well as the privacy regulation and industry standards applicable to them, [23andMe] did not introduce, implement or maintain proper or adequate data retention and data protection practices," reads the lawsuit.

Full article

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

[lifewithchronicpain]

Remember that time you spit in a tube and mailed it? For science, people. I don’t want to know about any other purposes for which you may have done that. You have your reasons…

But that spit tube, the one that perhaps came in a 23andMe kit that you got under the Christmas tree one year, just for curiosity’s sake to see whether you really were 1/64th Cherokee or if Grandma Sue was full of shit, or to get a heads-up as to any genetic markers of heightened risk to certain diseases was written in your cards.

23andMe has been circling the drain for a while now, so it’s no surprise to hear that today it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and its CEO, Anne Wojcicki, has resigned. For its next moves, it’ll look to sell “substantially all of its assets” through a court-approved reorganization plan. If you ever used a 23andMe kit, the correct thing to think right now is uh oh. (Read more at link)

This is exactly why I would never get a DNA kit unless it’s for my dog.

[azspot]

Take 23andme, the creepy genomics company that enticed millions of people into sending them their genetic material (even if you aren't a 23andme customer, they probably have most of your genome, thanks to relatives who sent in cheek-swabs). 23andme is now bankrupt, and its bankruptcy estate is shopping for a buyer who'd like to commercially exploit all that juicy genetic data, even if that is to the detriment of the people it came from. What's more, the bankruptcy estate is refusing to destroy samples from people who want to opt out of this future sale…

Cory Doctorow