Latest news with #Selsavage
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
23andMe says 15% of customers asked to delete their genetic data since bankruptcy
23andMe's interim chief executive Joseph Selsavage told lawmakers on Tuesday that 1.9 million people, or about 15% of its customer base, have requested their genetic data be deleted from the company's servers since it filed for bankruptcy protection in March. Selsavage was speaking at a House Oversight Committee hearing, during which lawmakers scrutinized the company's sale following an earlier bankruptcy auction. The bankruptcy sparked concerns that the data of millions of Americans who used 23andMe could end up in the hands of an unscrupulous buyer, prompting customers to ask the company to delete their data. Pharmaceutical giant Regeneron won the court-approved auction in May, offering $256 million for 23andMe and its banks of customers' DNA and genetic data. Regeneron said it would use the 23andMe data to aid the discovery of new drugs, and committed to maintain 23andMe's privacy practices. A federal bankruptcy court is expected to consider Regeneron's bid for 23andMe later in June. 23andMe's bankruptcy comes a year after it experienced a months-long data breach that exposed 6.9 million customers' sensitive personal and genetics data. The company blamed the data breach on its customers for not using multi-factor authentication, rather than acknowledging its own failure to secure customers' accounts, or its inability to detect the breach until months later. Also on Tuesday, more than two dozen states, including Florida, New York, and Pennsylvania, sued 23andMe to challenge the sale of its customers' private data. The states argue that the company cannot sell the data of its 15 million customers without their explicit permission. TechCrunch has a short guide on how to delete your 23andMe data.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
23andMe users agreed to data transfer when they signed up: Chief
(NewsNation) — DNA testing company 23andMe 'obtained the consent from our customers' to transfer their genetic data, interim CEO Joseph Selsavage told lawmakers on Wednesday. 'When the customer signed up to the service, they have agreed and affirmatively to consent to our privacy and terms of service, which specifically says that we, in the event of a bankruptcy sale, that we can actually transfer their data,' Selsavage said during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. Judge determined OPM broke law with DOGE access to data Selsavage's assertion comes amid a multistate lawsuit about the potential sale of its customers' genetic data and warnings from security experts. Concern stems from the potential transfer or sale of 23andMe's extensive database, which houses genetic information more than 10 million customers. 'We are requiring that anyone bidding for 23andMe must agree to comply with our privacy policies,' Selsavage said during his opening statement. 'We recognize the vital importance of protecting every individual's right to access and control their own genetic information.' Ranking committee member Sen. Dick Durban, D-Ill., asked: 'Two or three buyers removed, your best intentions don't mean much, do they?' 'My understanding is that 23andMe is doing everything we can to ensure next buyer adopts the policies and consents of 23andMe,' Selsavage said. When asked whether 23andMe would consider upping policy privacy protections for its users, Selsavage said he would 'take that suggestion back to our team.' Hundreds of pharmacies are set to close: How it could impact you Harvard Law School deputy dean I. Glenn Cohen contended that, even if maintaining current the privacy policy is a condition of the sale, there is nothing in place to prevent the buyer — or 23andMe — from altering it at any point in time. 'The main privacy protection for those customers is just a promise the company has made in its privacy statement,' Cohen said. Woman alleges Costco cabinet display fell on her in $14M lawsuit Adam Klein, director of University of Texas at Austin's Strauss Center, said he's concerned the average American's genetic data could prove valuable to foreign actors, including China. Klein warned that genetic data collected by 23andMe — if sold to or hacked by bad actors — could be used to track and identify people or train advanced artificial intelligence systems. Regeneron, a biotechnology company, announced on May 19 that it would 'acquire substantially all of the assets' of 23andMe through a $256 million deal. In the purchase announcement, Regeneron said it plans to process the company's data 'in accordance with the consents, privacy policies and statements, terms of service, and notices currently in effect.' On Monday, dozens of states and the District of Columbia sued to block the data transfer, citing consumer consent. Torrid to close up to 180 stores this year, retailer announces Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield called the DNA information 'personal, permanent, and deeply private.' 'People did not submit their personal data to 23andMe thinking their genetic blueprint would later be sold off to the highest bidder. We're standing up in court to make sure Oregonians — and millions of others — keep the right to control their own genetic information,' Rayfield said in a news release. The purchase came two months after 23andMe filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy following a data breach in 2023 and the exit of its CEO, Anne Wojcicki. Following the bankruptcy announcement, California Attorney General Rob Bonta warned users to purge their data and make use of 'robust privacy laws.' That advice is still applicable. Users can delete their data from 23andMe's website by: Logging into their account Clicking on 'Settings' under their profile Finding the '23andMe Data' section Clicking 'View,' then '23andMe Data' Choosing the 'Permanently Delete Data' selection According to Bonta, 23andMe will then send a follow-up email allowing users to confirm their decision to delete their data Users can delete their account altogether by: Scrolling to the 'Account Information' section Selecting 'Delete Your Account' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
NZ Herald
2 days ago
- Business
- NZ Herald
A DNA-testing firm's bankruptcy raises questions over whether people have a right to their genetic data
According to the states' lawsuit, '23andMe holds - and is proposing to sell to a third-party - an unprecedented compilation of highly sensitive and immutable personal data: a human being's permanent and everlasting genetic identity.' Such data can't be replaced if stolen, the lawsuit adds. It could even be used to identify and track people related to 23andMe customers, including those who haven't been born, 'impacting those who have no awareness of the sale as well as humans who do not even exist yet', the suit argues. In a statement, a spokesperson for 23andMe said that the arguments by the attorneys-general 'are without merit' and that the sale is permitted. 'Customers will continue to have the same rights and protections in the hands of the winning bidder.' Today NZT in Washington, 23andMe's interim and former chief executives faced bipartisan scrutiny over how they protect customer privacy. Joseph Selsavage, the interim chief executive, testified that 1.9 million customers have requested that their data be deleted from the platform since 23andMe filed for bankruptcy in March. Brian Bianco, who chairs the intellectual property practice at Akerman LLP, said in an interview that genetic data could live on forever. 'From that perspective, the data is unique and it differentiates this case from any case that comes before it,' he said. The state lawsuits come days before 23andMe is set to receive final offers from two bidders: TTAM Research Institute, a new non-profit started by the company's co-founder Anne Wojcicki; and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, a New York-based drugmaker that intends to keep offering 23andMe's signature DNA testing service while using genetic data to power its own efforts to develop medicine. The litigation is the latest twist in an epic corporate drama. The company, which once boasted a stock market value of about US$6 billion ($10b), landed in bankruptcy after its efforts to expand into biotechnology and delivering healthcare services failed to put it on a sustainable footing. Wojcicki made multiple failed bids to take 23andMe private. Then, after reaching an agreement to be purchased by Regeneron for US$256 million, 23andMe received an offer from Wojcicki's TTAM for $305m - and the bankruptcy judge took the rare step of reopening the auction last week to allow for final bids from the two rival suitors. At today's hearing in the US House of Representatives, lawmakers pressed Selsavage and Wojcicki on getting consent from customers to sell their data. 'I'm really just wondering why you think you can sell this data at an individual level to a third-party company,' said Representative Dave Min (Democrat, California). 'Why are you selling their genetic data when you don't own it?' 'We believe customers have already consented,' Selsavage responded, apparently referring to 23andMe's privacy policy that allows for personal information to be sold in transactions, including bankruptcy. The states' lawsuit challenges that position, pointing to a passage in 23andMe's privacy policy assuring customers that their genetic data 'will not be shared with employers, insurance companies or public databases without your explicit consent'. As a result, the states argue, customers reasonably expected that their data wouldn't be auctioned off to the highest bidder without explicitly providing consent. Before June 2022, the states' lawsuit claims, 23andMe's privacy policy offered an even broader guarantee: that it 'will not sell, lease or rent your individual-level information to a third party for research purposes without your explicit consent'. The lawsuits are asking a judge to rule that customers inherently own their biological material - such as the saliva samples they provided for the genetic tests - and that 23andMe lacks sufficient rights to transfer that information without receiving their consent to do so. That raises complicated legal and political questions, experts say, given laws on genetic data and privacy that vary from state to state. Some say resolving such conflicts may require legislation. 'Most people don't read privacy policies,' said Uttara Ananthakrishnan, a professor of information systems at Carnegie Mellon University. 'This would be a really critical case where there could definitely be some regulation around how this data is being handled.'
