After the genetic testing business 23andMe filed for bankruptcy, which put millions of users ‘ private information up for sale, three members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce are raising concerns about data protection.
On Thursday, the Democratic staff, Gary Palmer from Alaska, Gus Bilirakis from Florida, and Brett Guthrie from Kentucky, wrote to 23andMe interim CEO Joe Selsavage asking for answers to and several questions by May 1.
The questions center on the death of 23andMe’s biological database, which contains data from more than 15 million people. In the event of a sale, the congressmen inquired about how the company would safeguard the data and how it would specialist prospective buyers.
A request for comment was not instantly received by the business.
23andMe filed for Chapter 11 debt in March and was given the right to buy a large portion of its assets from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. The business, which was founded in 2006 and was once valued at$ 6 billion, established at-home DNA test kits and sparked a craze of amateur heritage looking and criminal investigations.
However, the opportunity failed to develop a viable business model, and authorities, customers, and government officials are concerned that genetic information might end up in the wrong hands as it struggles to stay upright.
We are concerned that this treasure of sensitive data is at risk of being compromised due to the lack of HIPAA protections, the fragmented state laws governing biological protection, and the confusion surrounding what happens to consumer information if the company be sold or customer data and information are acquired,” according to the Energy and Commerce letter.
According to Sara Geoghegan, top guidance at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, the agency’s privacy policy may be formally changed at any time. However, any customer of 23andMe may agree to do so.
If I had swab 23andMe, Geoghegan said,” I would be very concerned.” There is little that we can do to influence what transpires.
California Atty. Gen. Customers are being urged to delete the information they have provided to the company by Rob Bonta in an a , consumer alert .
Californians should think about requesting their rights and erasing any samples of the company’s genetic material, Bonta wrote.
According to the Wall Street Journal , the 23andMe website crashed as a result of the warning. Customers are having trouble accessing and deleting their data, according to the letter from Thursday raising the issue.
The most recent government officials to express concern about the situation are Guthrie, Bilirakis, and Palmer. Additionally, the Federal Trade Commission and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform have recently written to 23andMe to inquire about data protection.
In late March, 23andMe sent customers an , open letter , assuring them that their data would remain secure in the event of a sale.
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