Latest news with #dataPrivacy
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Regeneron agrees to purchase bankrupt 23andMe, protect data
This story was originally published on CFO Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily CFO Dive newsletter. Bankrupt genetic testing company 23andMe announced Monday that it agreed to be sold to biotechnology firm Regeneron Pharmaceuticals for $256 million. The deal, which is subject to approval by a federal bankruptcy court, includes Regeneron's commitment to comply with 23andMe's data privacy policies and 'process all customer personal data in accordance with the consents, privacy policies and statements, terms of service, and notices currently in effect,' according to a press release. 'We are pleased to have reached a transaction that maximizes the value of the business and enables the mission of 23andMe to live on, while maintaining critical protections around customer privacy, choice and consent with respect to their genetic data,' 23andMe Board Chair Mark Jensen said in the release. Sunnyvale, California-based 23andMe filed for bankruptcy in March after facing financial challenges in recent years and a massive data breach in 2023. Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson is among public officials who have expressed concern about whether data privacy commitments made by 23andMe would be kept in the event of a sale of the company and its assets. 'As you may know, 23andMe collects and holds sensitive, immutable, identifiable personal information about millions of American consumers who have used the Company's genetic testing and telehealth services,' Ferguson said in a March letter to Acting U.S. Trustee Jerry Jensen. The information includes genetic data, biological DNA samples, health records, and ancestry and genealogy details, he said. A spokesperson for the FTC declined to comment on the deal with Regeneron. Under the terms of the agreement, Regeneron will acquire 'substantially all of the assets' of 23andMe. The proposed sale doesn't cover 23andMe's Lemonaid Health subsidiary, which the company plans to wind down, the press release said. 'We believe we can help 23andMe deliver and build upon its mission to help people learn about their own DNA and how to improve their personal health, while furthering Regeneron's efforts to improve the health and wellness of many,' George Yancopoulos, Regeneron's president and chief scientific officer, said in the release. The proposed transaction is expected to close in the third quarter, subject to approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri as well as 'customary closing conditions,' including a review required by U.S. antitrust regulations, the release said. A court hearing to consider approval of the transaction is currently scheduled for June 17. A court-appointed, independent consumer privacy ombudsman will conduct an examination of the transaction and its potential impact on consumers' privacy, according to the release. The ombudsman is expected to present a report to the court by June 10. The deal highlights the need for comprehensive federal data privacy protections, according to J.B. Branch, a 'Big Tech accountability advocate' for Washington-based public interest group Public Citizen's Congress Watch division. 'The precedent is being set that your DNA can be considered a business asset which is in complete contradiction to any notion of human dignity,' Branch said in an email. 'Congress needs to pass real digital privacy laws that are ironclad and protect consumers from having their literal identifiable information sold off to the highest bidder.' Without such federal protections, Regeneron's intentions to prioritize the privacy and security of consumer genetic data 'still leave consumers concerned about their highly sensitive genetic data,' said Suzanne Bernstein, counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information Center, another advocacy group. '23andMe consumers could not have envisioned, or meaningfully consented to their genetic data being sold or used for purposes outside of the original context to discover family heritage or genealogy,' Bernstein said in an email. Recommended Reading FTC chief flags data privacy concerns in 23andMe bankruptcy
CNET
a day ago
- Entertainment
- CNET
'Squid Game' Season 3 Trailer Teases Harrowing Series Finale
912 We and ourpartners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting I Accept enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. Selecting Reject All or withdrawing your consent will disable them. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Manage Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage [or the floating icon on the bottom-left of the webpage, if applicable]. Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy. Our Privacy Policy
Entrepreneur
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Entrepreneur
ქართული ნაციონალური ბალეტი "სუხიშვილები" 80 წელს აღნიშნავს - მთავარი მხარდამჭერია საქართველოს ბანკი
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CNET
2 days ago
- Business
- CNET
Best M2 MacBook Air Deals: Save Up to $600 on These Lightweight 2022 Models
912 We and ourpartners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting I Accept enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. Selecting Reject All or withdrawing your consent will disable them. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Manage Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage [or the floating icon on the bottom-left of the webpage, if applicable]. Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy. Our Privacy Policy
The Independent
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Has Big Brother arrived? Inside the secretive Trump effort to centralize government data on millions of Americans
The Trump administration is reportedly leaning on an Elon Musk -allied tech company to build wide-ranging data tools pooling government information on millions of Americans and immigrants alike. The campaign has raised alarms from critics that the company could be furthering Musk's DOGE effort to vacuum up and potentially weaponize – or sell – mass amounts of sensitive personal data, particularly against vulnerable groups like immigrants and political dissidents. In March, the president signed an executive order dedicated to 'stopping waste, fraud, and abuse by eliminating information silos,' a euphemism for pooling vast stores of data on Americans under the federal government. To carry out the data effort, the administration has deepened the federal government's longstanding partnership with Palantir, a tech firm specializing in building big data applications, which was co-founded by Silicon Valley investor, GOP donor, and JD Vance mentor Peter Thiel. Since Trump took office, the administration has reportedly spent more than $113 million with Palantir through new and existing contracts, while the company is slated to begin work on a new $795 million deal with the Defense Department. Palantir is reportedly working with the administration in the Pentagon, the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Internal Revenue Service, according to The New York Times. Within these agencies, the firm is reportedly building tools to track the movement of migrants in real time and streamline all tax data. The company is also reportedly in talks about deploying its technology at the Social Security Administration and the Department of Education, both of which have been targets of DOGE, and which store sensitive information about Americans' identities and finances. 'We act as a data processor, not a data controller,' the company insisted in response to the Times report. 'Our software and services are used under direction from the organizations that license our products. These organizations define what can and cannot be done with their data; they control the Palantir accounts in which analysis is conducted.' The Trump administration has reportedly pursued a variety of efforts to use big data to support its priorities, including social media surveillance of immigrants to detect alleged pro-terror views, and American activists who disagree wit Donal Trump's views.. Earlier this month, a group of former Palantir employees warned in an open letter that the company was 'normalizing authoritarianism under the guise of a 'revolution' led by oligarchs.' 'By supporting Trump's administration, Elon Musk's DOGE initiative, and dangerous expansions of executive power, they have abandoned their responsibility and are in violation of Palantir's Code of Conduct,' the employees wrote. Previous reporting from CNN and WIRED has described efforts at the Department of Homeland Security to build mass data tools to support tracking and surveilling undocumented immigrants, a key priority for the White House as deportations still aren't reaching levels necessary to meet Trump's promise of rapidly removing millions of people from the country. The effort has involved merging data from outside agencies like Social Security and the IRS, according to WIRED. 'They are trying to amass a huge amount of data,' a senior DHS official told the magazine. 'It has nothing to do with finding fraud or wasteful spending … They are already cross-referencing immigration with SSA and IRS, as well as voter data.' Since Trump took office, DOGE operatives, many of whom are unknown to the public nor have been vetted, have rapidly sought access to data at key agencies, including the Departments of Education and the Treasury, as well as the Social Security Administration, often over the objections of senior staff. The efforts have prompted scores of lawsuits against DOGE. At Social Security, the administration also moved thousands of living, mostly Latino undocumented immigrants into the agency's 'Death Master File' in an attempt to pressure them to leave the country. DOGE itself is reportedly under audit for its action by the Government Accountability Office, a federal watchdog. An April letter from Democrats on the House Oversight Committee warned of DOGE's 'extreme negligence and an alarmingly cavalier attitude' toward sensitive data. It claimed a whistleblower had described how 'DOGE engineers have tried to create specialized computers for themselves that simultaneously give full access to networks and databases across different agencies.' The 'whistleblower information obtained by the Committee, combined with public reporting, paints a picture of chaos at SSA [Social Security Administration] as DOGE is rapidly, haphazardly, and unlawfully working to implement changes that could disrupt Social Security payments and expose Americans' sensitive data,' the letter reads.'
