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Julia Creet, Professor of English, York University, Canada

With 23andMe filing for bankruptcy, what happens to consumers’ genetic data?

23andMe has filed for bankruptcy, raising questions about future ownership of the genetic data of its 15 million customers. (Shutterstock)

The announcement that 23andMe is filing for bankruptcy and has put its genetic genealogy database up for sale has sent its customers into a bit of a privacy tizzy. On March 21, California Attorney General Bob Bonta issued a consumer alert with detailed instructions about how to delete one’s data.

23andMe and its databases are located in California; regardless of where customers live, privacy is then governed by California law and some weak U.S. federal laws. Canadian privacy laws have no sway in this case.

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