23andMe has filed for bankruptcy protection. If you—or a family member—used their services to explore your ancestry, it’s important to know that the company was also in the business of providing genetic data for research and studies.
While details are still unfolding, it’s possible that Ancestry.com may acquire or now have access to this genetic data. Ancestry.com was founded in Utah and has historical ties to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), which places a high importance on genealogy for religious reasons (e.g., baptisms for the dead).
However, Ancestry.com is not currently owned by the LDS Church. As of 2020, Blackstone Group, a private equity firm, acquired a majority stake in Ancestry.com for $4.7 billion.
If you are concerned about your privacy and would like to delete your 23andMe information, please read on for steps you can take.
Genetic testing firm 23andMe has filed for bankruptcy. This is after months of uncertainty over its future. (CNN). https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/24/tech/23andme-bankruptcy-hnk-intl
“Millions of people’s genetic data could soon belong to a new owner.” (WSJ$)https://www.wsj.com/business/dna-testing-company-23andme-files-for-bankruptcy-announces-ceo-resignation-82ad1c45?mc_cid=ecdf886d6e&mc_eid=59077de4b1
How to Delete Your 23andMe Data
23andMe has a page with instructions on how users can request an account closure. But in your 23andMe account, navigate to Settings, scroll down to the 23andMe Data section at the bottom, and click View on the right. Enter your birthday and then scroll to the bottom of the next page and click Permanently Delete Data.
Source: https://www.pcmag.com/news/23andme-trouble-sparks-calls-for-users-to-delete-their-dna-data-heres-how
reddit comments: https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/1g3u00r/23andme_faces_an_uncertain_future_heres_how_to/?rdt=33776
on X (formerly Twitter):
The biomedical industry sales magazine Endpoints News reports that ‘the compromised data contained details on some of the wealthiest people in the US and Western Europe.’ This is not surprising, given that one of the primary founders of 23andMe, Anne Wojcicki—sister of the late YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki—not only served as CEO of 23andMe but was also formerly married to Google co-founder and CEO Sergey Brin.
Meanwhile, James O’Keefe and his media group have published a recording of Nate Johnson, a US Treasury Advisor, explaining how 23andMe shares consumer data with pharmaceutical companies, including the “Ministry of Defense of Russia.” While recording the conversation on a hidden camera, the journalist asked Johnson: “Do they sell it [DNA data of customers] to Russia?”
He responded, “They sell it to everybody.”
Johnson explained: “There’s a clause in their contract, that basically says, like, we can give your information to our shareholders. So that they can do stuff. And all of their shareholders are, like pharmaceutical companies. But some of those pharmaceutical companies are based in other countries, and those pharmaceutical companies in other countries are like the property of, like the Ministry of Defense of Russia. Or, like, owned, by China.”
If what Johnson said is true, then the genetic pool of millions of 23andMe customers potentially being sold to private companies—domestically or abroad—should be considered a national security threat.
That’s because as explained several years ago by Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), a member of the House Committee on Armed Services and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence: “That’s what this is, where you can actually take someone’s DNA, you know, their medical profile, and you can target a biological weapon that will kill that person or take them off the battlefield or make them inoperable.”
Source: WIRED Magazine on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/wired/p/DHoDDotOFMN/?img_index=2
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