NC and SC Attorneys General urge 23andMe users to delete their data now

CHARLOTTE, NC – North and South Carolina attorneys general are warning 23andMe users to delete their data, accounts and apps now.

The genetic testing company has filed for bankruptcy. Users would send their saliva to the 23andMe lab where workers would analyze a customers data to explore their ethnicity and ancestry and share the results. 23AndMe will soon be sold to the highest bidder which leaves questions about what could happen to the data.

“Anything can happen with the sale of a company. You don’t know whose hands it’s going to fall into,” Julie Meunier, Associate Director of Digital Intelligence at Fortalice Solutions said. “When a company is desperate at a time like this, they can say all day long that they want to protect their clients and the information, but at the end of the day, they want to put themselves in a better financial situation.”

The company’s current privacy policy does not allow the sharing of data or DNA without your permission or court order. A privacy breach back in 2023, attracted the attention of North Carolina AG’s office.

In a press release, Jeff Jackson said “Your genetic data is your most personal, confidential data, and you should be able to protect who has access to it.”

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson says, “The best way to protect your personal information is to delete your account.”

23 and me has more than 15 million users. Under the company’s terms and conditions, most users agreed to allow 23andme to use their DNA for medical research purposes.

“It is a little bit of an unchartered territory, especially finding the balance between cyber and privacy laws versus how they’re supposed to store your DNA records,” Meunier said.

Attorney General Jackson shared these instructions to delete your 23andMe data:
• Log into your 23andMe account.
• Follow instructions here if you want to destroy your test sample or revoke permission for your genetic data to be used for research.
• Under your account profile, click on “Settings”.
• Scroll down to “23andMe data” and click on “View”.
• Select “Delete data”.
• Click “Permanently delete data”.
• Follow instructions to confirm your request to delete your data.
Once you confirm your request, 23andMe will immediately and automatically begin the deletion process and you will lose access to your account.