23andMe’s interim chief govt Joseph Selsavage instructed lawmakers on Tuesday that 1.9 million folks, or about 15% of its buyer base, have requested their genetic data be deleted from the corporate’s servers since it filed for bankruptcy safety in March.
Selsavage was talking at a House Oversight Committee hearing, throughout which lawmakers scrutinized the corporate’s sale following an earlier bankruptcy public sale. The bankruptcy sparked issues that the data of thousands and thousands of Individuals who used 23andMe may find yourself within the palms of an unscrupulous purchaser, prompting customers to ask the corporate to delete their data.
Pharmaceutical large Regeneron received the court-approved public sale in Might, providing $256 million for 23andMe and its banks of customers’ DNA and genetic data. Regeneron mentioned it will use the 23andMe data to assist the invention of new medication, and dedicated to keep 23andMe’s privateness practices.
A federal bankruptcy court docket is anticipated to take into account Regeneron’s bid for 23andMe later in June.
23andMe’s bankruptcy comes a yr after it skilled a months-long data breach that uncovered 6.9 million customers’ delicate private and genetics data. The corporate blamed the data breach on its customers for not utilizing multi-factor authentication, relatively than acknowledging its personal failure to safe customers’ accounts, or its incapacity to detect the breach till months later.
Additionally on Tuesday, greater than two dozen states, together with Florida, New York, and Pennsylvania, sued 23andMe to challenge the sale of its customers’ personal data. The states argue that the corporate can not promote the data of its 15 million customers with out their specific permission.
TechCrunch has a brief information on how to delete your 23andMe data.
