Summary
Genetic testing company 23andMe has filed for bankruptcy, putting the DNA data of millions of users at risk of being sold.
Privacy advocates have urged consumers to delete their data amid fears it could be sold to data brokers or used for targeted advertising.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta advised customers to consider deleting their profiles after the company’s share price crash heightened concerns.
CEO Anne Wojcicki reportedly rejected three takeover bids before the bankruptcy filing, raising questions about the company’s future and data protection.
Here comes venture capital to the “rescue!”
Private equity hedge fund. Covers all the bases.
/s
Fred: pulls off venture capital mask to reveal private equity mask underneath
Daphne: pulls off private equity mask to reveal 1% mask
Shaggy: pulls off 1% mask to reveal klan hood
Velma: “Ji—eezus Christ!”
Yup, it was Cletus all along!
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I say this without schadenfreude, but I fucking called it straight out of the gate.
Every single person who was enticed or cajoled into submitting these tests as a novelty or curiosity has potentially compromised the personal security of every single member of their immediate & extended family, as well as their descendants. At the very least, those parties previously mentioned may face ludicrous rates for life/health insurance or outright denial of coverage. The company to which they submitted their genetic code no longer exists, and their family’s entire biological blueprint is on the auction block. Think before you make decisions, people.
their family’s entire biological blueprint
I don’t believe this part holds up. The type of sequencing you’re talking about is an incredibly labor- and time-intensive task. The good folk at these fastfood laboratories are just comparing historical markers and shooting off a list of what those markers tell about you.
It still remains to be seen if insurance companies will eat this data up or not, but they will have trouble providing any justification for dismissing claims without sounding pretty racist.
I’m so glad I was never dumb enough to send them or any other ancestry company a dna sample.
The problem is that your whole family has to be not dumb enough.
Yep - both parents and my only sibling have done it. Thanks, guys, glad I didn’t call this a decade ago.
Cassandra of Troy just called, she said that no one listens to her either 😑
I hope you hung up on her after saying “yeah, yeah, Cassie, whatever.”
I was the holdout. They bought me a kit and it felt pointless resisting.
Guess I was right and too much of a slug to stand up for it.
They’re saying if you were the only holdup it doesn’t matter. If enough of your semi-close relatives submitted their DNA, yours can be extrapolated reasonably accurately from that.
Might want to tell the fam to delete theirs, maybe help them through the process. Bonta’s announcement has a list of the steps, but only you know which of your family will need help.
While plenty in my family are that stupid, they are first and foremost cheap as fuck, way too cheap for a frivolous thing like this.
I’m not too worried but even if they did there is fuck all I can do about it now.
I don’t speak to any of my extended family, but I’m hoping the fact that there’s been so much shitty behavior that none of them would want to expose any more of it via DNA. My mom already has 8 siblings she knows of, it wouldn’t be a surprise if there were a couple more out there, and pretty much all of my uncles are the type to have affairs.
Therein lies the rub. A complete catalogue is not necessary when a partially completed jigsaw puzzle will suffice. A lot of people have unexpected uncomfortable questions in their future about their grandmother’s massive stroke, their uncle’s schizophrenia, their cousin’s mania-induced crime spree, or maybe even their 3rd-cousin’s cancer diagnosis. Rates are set to increase across the board, no family is immune.
I was coerced into it because someone thought they were my illegitimate half-sibling. I was extremely hesitant due to privacy concerns but I succumbed to family pressure. Through the test, we discovered she’s more likely to be my cousin. Immediately after, I “deleted” all my info. I guess you can only take their word for it.
but hey, at least some americans got to make a twitter post about their irish+italian+french+british+swedish+argentinian ancestry!
When I was in college (jeez that’s like 7 years ago) I did my dissertation on the future of privacy and I spent 7-8 pages on DNA tracking like 23andMe.
As a business and invasion of personal identity is immoral.
However the major point of ethicality is for police work, as I believe it was ancestry that helped catch the golden state killer. I believe it was ancestry relative of the serial killer did the test and there was a used cigarette at the site of a murder and tracked back to him.
It’s a whole philosophical debacle. Is it right to keep the dna of millions stored to prevent or capture a handful of potentially dangerous individuals.
I always thought it was a bad idea and never did it. However my parents did it, and I’m sure a lot of what is known about them applies to me.
I can’t ask them to delete my data because I forgot the fake birthday I used for the fake name and they keep asking for it for “security”. Alas. If in 5-10 years I’m living in a country that allows genetic discrimination either openly or through lack of enforcement I feel like I have bigger problems to worry about.
I’m more annoyed that forgetting that date also means I can’t download my data so I can’t use 3rd party analysis tools.
Whaaaaaaaaat??? Noooo wayyyy… I never thought this would happen… Man oh man the unforseenness of this event is staggering who would’ve thought this scheme could have ever gone bad??? See, that’s why I only trust the Mormon Church with my genetic data and ancestry. Smh
What do you got, the whole town’s DNA on file?
Yuh-huh. If you’ve ever handled a penny, the government’s got your DNA. Why do you think they keep them in circulation?
I mean, this is kinda hilarious to me. The vast majority of people I know that did this, were right wing hoping to find out exactly how “European” they are. When asked about it, they rarely wanted to talk about it.
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Eh. My DNA is all over the place. NBD.
