Aggregated News
Genetic information company 23andMe has said that it is headed to bankruptcy court, raising questions for what happens to the DNA shared by millions of people with the company via saliva test kits.
Sunday’s announcement clears the way for a new company to purchase 23andMe — and the wealth of genetic information in its databases. The privacy statement of 23andMe reads: “If we are involved in a bankruptcy, merger, acquisition, reorganization, or sale of assets, your Personal Information may be accessed, sold or transferred as part of that transaction.”
As people scramble to scrub their information, experts say the situation presents a privacy nightmare that could have cascading effects. The uncertainty around 23andMe’s data spotlights the risks for anyone using genetic-testing services, they added. The sector has boomed in recent years with companies such as Ancestry, FamilyTreeDNA and others also amassing their own troves of genetic data.
“I don’t think the average consumer could foresee all of the future uses, or all of the future people, that could be controlling or accessing their information years from when they do a...