We’ve reported on a number of bankruptcies here at Nerdbot. Most recently we discussed how film production studio, Village Roadshow was going under. In that article we talked about how the company potentially had a buyer due to the assets the company has in its film library. That’s not a big deal to you or me when film rights get sold, it’s just an entertainment asset. What happens though when a company’s assets include your genetic data and they go bankrupt? That’s the question that should be on the minds of anyone who submitted their saliva sample to 23andMe.
Of the many companies that have been struggling lately, 23andMe has been hit especially hard. There aren’t exactly a lot of repeat customers in the genetic testing market. You test someone, get their results, and that’s that. 23andMe found that out the hard way when their subscription model went belly up and they had to file for bankruptcy. But what happens now to all that data they have on their customers. Talk about personal information, this is about as personal as you can get.
Traditionally, when a company files for bankruptcy, it’s to find a way to reorganize things to pay off debt and find a way forward to survive. Chapter 11, which is the kind of bankruptcy 23andMe filed, can also involve finding a buyer to assume the company and its debt with the hope of making it profitable again. With another company in charge, that means a variety of things can change. In this case it includes how a new owner of 23andMe would handle your personal data. This is why the state of California is recommending to its citizens that they need to delete their data.
Depending on what state you live in, you may have consumer protections in place that could help in a situation like this. California for example, has the Genetic Information Privacy Act as well as their own California Consumer Protection Act. Because those protections do not extend to every state however, other consumers may be at risk for their genetic data being used in ways that weren’t intended. Regrettably, federal laws don’t do a lot in this situation since unlike a doctor’s office or hospital, 23andMe is a private company that isn’t subject to the same medical information regulations.
Long story short, if you’re in California, go delete your data. If you’re in another state other than California, try to delete your data and hope that the courts come up with something in this proceeding that could insulate you from this genetic nightmare.
