Congress Is Investigating 23andMe’s Dealing with of Private Information

Republican lawmakers related to the Home Committee on Power and Commerce are probing the 23andMe chapter out of concern for People’ DNA info.

The troubled genomics firm has been in a downward spiral ever because it suffered an unlucky knowledge breach in 2023. The corporate has since endured a maelstrom of battle and controversy, together with layoffs, litigation, and a plummeting monetary valuation. In March, it filed for Chapter 11 chapter and has been on the lookout for a purchaser for its genetic knowledge enterprise ever since.

On Friday, Congressmen Brett Guthrie (R-KY), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Gary Palmer (R-AL), sent a letter to 23andMe making a number of inquiries in regards to the firm’s dealing with of People’ knowledge. The letter notes {that a} decide “lately dominated 23andMe has the suitable to promote the delicate medical and genetic info of its 15 million clients, which is taken into account to be the corporate’s most dear asset” and states that, with “the shortage of a federal complete knowledge privateness and safety legislation, we write to precise our nice concern in regards to the security of People’ most delicate private info.”

The letter notes that some clients have reported difficulties in deleting their accounts and data, and asks the corporate to elucidate what number of of these deletion requests have been fulfilled. It additionally asks whether or not the corporate has a “vetting course of” in place to find out whether or not its potential purchaser has a “historical past of implementing knowledge safety protections and compliance with sectoral, state, or some other knowledge privateness and safety legal guidelines.”

It must be famous that whereas the Republican letter complains of a scarcity of a “federal complete knowledge privateness” legislation, lawmakers have solely themselves accountable for this, given the truth that there have been a number of (failed) makes an attempt to move such a legislation.

Gizmodo reached out to 23andMe for remark.

Concern for 23andMe consumer knowledge could also be excessive, though the corporate has repeatedly promised to proceed defending clients’ info. A press release from March notes that to “represent a professional bid, potential consumers should, amongst different necessities, conform to adjust to 23andMe’s shopper privateness coverage and all relevant legal guidelines with respect to the remedy of buyer knowledge.” In different phrases, the info privateness assurances that the corporate at present guarantees will probably be carried over to no matter firm buys the enterprise.

You could really feel that doesn’t quantity to a lot, given the truth that the corporate has already allowed consumer info to be compromised by way of its earlier knowledge leak. If that’s the case, you may nonetheless ask the corporate to delete your info by way of the method described here, courtesy of the Digital Frontier Basis.