The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is raising concerns about the future of personal data held by 23andMe, a company known for its ancestry testing services, which recently filed for bankruptcy. FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson expressed these worries in a letter to the U.S. trustee overseeing the bankruptcy process, emphasizing that any buyer of 23andMe’s assets should adhere to the company’s current privacy policies.
23andMe filed for bankruptcy protection on March 23, largely due to a decline in demand for its ancestry testing kits. Despite the bankruptcy, the company has stated that it will continue to manage and protect customer data as it has in the past. However, this has not stopped officials, including California Attorney General Rob Bonta, from questioning the fate of the genetic data collected by the company. Bonta has even advised customers to consider deleting their genetic information, pointing out that the company’s privacy policies allow for the potential sale of this data to other firms.
The situation has been further complicated by a significant data breach earlier this year, where hackers exposed the personal information of nearly 7 million 23andMe customers over a five-month period. This incident has raised serious concerns among customers about how their data is handled and the overall privacy practices of DNA-testing companies.
As the bankruptcy process unfolds, many are watching closely to see how 23andMe will protect customer information and what it means for the future of genetic testing services.