The prominent genetic-testing company 23andMe has applied for bankruptcy, and its 15 million U.S. customers have been advised to delete their accounts due to concerns that their DNA data might be sold off.

California
Attorney General Rob Bonta advised 23andMe customers to ‘remove their information and discard all genetic samples kept by the firm.’

He made his comments shortly before 23andMe submitted their bankruptcy papers late Sunday evening. Following this filing, the company’s stock plummeted to only $0.96 per share, and CEO Anne Wojcicki, who is also one of the founders, stepped down from her position.

Despite facing difficulties, 23andMe plans to proceed with trading operations as Wojcicki makes a concerted effort to orchestrate a buyout aimed at salvaging the struggling technology company.

However, she has an uphill struggle following the remarks of California’s strongest legal authority, who stated that users should place absolutely no trust in 23andMe.

Bonta mentioned that it remains uncertain where the ultra-sensitive information will ultimately land, following users paying $200 for an analysis of their DNA samples to uncover details about their ancestors’ history.

23andMe was established by entrepreneur Wojcicki and operates out of Silicon Valley, which places it under the jurisdiction of California’s Genetic Privacy Act.

This enables customers to retrieve and remove information whenever they choose. Users of 23andMe can erase their records by signing into their accounts, selecting ‘settings’, followed by ‘view’, and finally choosing ‘delete data’.

This will trigger an email that customers need to click on to complete the removal process. As recent as 2021, 23andMe was still considered a technology favorite with its stock price reaching $320.

People were intrigued to find out where their forebears originated around the globe.

Oprah Winfrey counted herself as one of the fans and included the 23andMe testing kits in her yearly favorites list in 2017.

Everyone who submitted a DNA sample received an analysis revealing the ethnic origins of their ancestors.

Law enforcement utilized 23andMe to crack high-profile unsolved cases as well.

The investigators managed to input the suspect’s genetic material into the DNA database to uncover potential relatives who had voluntarily submitted their DNA for benign reasons.

This allowed them to pinpoint and significantly reduce the number of possible suspects, after which their backgrounds were examined to determine if they had any connection to the crime scene.

The company’s collapse was attributed to swift overexpansion and a major data breach in 2023 that discouraged users from utilizing the platform.

Wojcicki, who serves as the CEO and co-founder of the site, was married to Google co-founder Sergey Brin from 2007 to 2015.

She leveraged her connections to attempt securing investments for the company.

The latest buyout proposal from Wojcicki values 23andMe at approximately $11 million, which equates to about 41 cents per share.

That represents a remarkable drop from the firm’s highest valuation of $46 billion back in early 2021.

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