23andMe files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

[AimSmall]

23andMe Customers Panic To Delete Genetic Data
https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/23a...netic-data

   

[Mythbuster General]

I just hope their large database can be bought up and implemented into either Ancestry or MyHeritage and they don't get lost in the abyss. I really enjoyed my time there at the beginning but as the years passed by, they sorta discriminated me because I had an older chip version and they wouldn't update my results anymore, even if I was an "earlier" adopter. That left kinda sour taste in my mouth.

[AimSmall]

Warm Fuzzies...


Bankrupt 23andMe Cleared By Judge To Sell Americans' DNA Data To Highest Bidder
Bankrupt 23andMe Cleared By Judge To Sell Americans' DNA Data To Highest Bidder | ZeroHedge

Carole J. Ryczek, a lawyer with the US Trustee's office, which acts as a public watchdog in bankruptcy court, told Walsh that a privacy ombudsman is necessary to oversee the sale of customers' private genetic information.


The bankruptcy case "needs a neutral third party" involved in the sale process to protect customers, Ryczek said. Company lawyers and company investment bankers declined to comment on the value of the customer data.

Walsh declined to say whether he would support a consumer privacy ombudsman, or how he would respond to a demand by two investors that he appoint an official committee to represent shareholders. Those shareholders complained about how the company tried to sell itself before filing for court protection.

23andMe lawyer Grace Hotz argued that an ombudsman was unnecessary because of the extensive privacy policies. Under the US Bankruptcy Code, companies cannot sell personally identifiable information about a consumer unless the sale conforms to the firm's privacy policies or until after an ombudsman is appointed.

[Mabrams]

from Leah Larkin, suggesting people go slow.....

https://thednageek.substack.com/p/23andm...dium=email

[mjaguk]

from Leah Larkin, suggesting people go slow.....

https://thednageek.substack.com/p/23andm...dium=email

That sounds like sensible advice. I have been adopting the "wait and see" approach. The only change I made recently is that I paused on renewal of the 23&Me+ premium subscription, because they were about to take a payment at the end of March, for the coming year, and I cancelled it. I might go back to premium at some point in the future, when we have a better idea of what's going to happen with the company.

[BowFX]

Warm Fuzzies...


Bankrupt 23andMe Cleared By Judge To Sell Americans' DNA Data To Highest Bidder
Bankrupt 23andMe Cleared By Judge To Sell Americans' DNA Data To Highest Bidder | ZeroHedge

Carole J. Ryczek, a lawyer with the US Trustee's office, which acts as a public watchdog in bankruptcy court, told Walsh that a privacy ombudsman is necessary to oversee the sale of customers' private genetic information.


The bankruptcy case "needs a neutral third party" involved in the sale process to protect customers, Ryczek said. Company lawyers and company investment bankers declined to comment on the value of the customer data.

Walsh declined to say whether he would support a consumer privacy ombudsman, or how he would respond to a demand by two investors that he appoint an official committee to represent shareholders. Those shareholders complained about how the company tried to sell itself before filing for court protection.

23andMe lawyer Grace Hotz argued that an ombudsman was unnecessary because of the extensive privacy policies. Under the US Bankruptcy Code, companies cannot sell personally identifiable information about a consumer unless the sale conforms to the firm's privacy policies or until after an ombudsman is appointed.

Does it say anything about the data of European citizens protected by GDPR?

[Rufus191]

from Leah Larkin, suggesting people go slow.....

https://thednageek.substack.com/p/23andm...dium=email

That sounds like sensible advice. I have been adopting the "wait and see" approach. The only change I made recently is that I paused on renewal of the 23&Me+ premium subscription, because they were about to take a payment at the end of March, for the coming year, and I cancelled it. I might go back to premium at some point in the future, when we have a better idea of what's going to happen with the company.

I think it's a very good point, that, in fact all the other DNA providers, Ancestry, FamilyTreeDNA and MyHeritage, have all been taken over by new owners, in Ancestry's case Blackstone, MyHeritage to Francisco Partners, FamilyTreeDNA to myDNA, and GEDmatch has been sold twice, to Verogen in 2019, and to Qiagen in 2023. So 23andme being taken over in an organized way, as it is voluntary bankruptcy, not a liquidition, is not really that different to what has happened with these other providers. I thought it was also misleading that most news providers did not explain that the reason that Anna Wojcicki resigned, was not, as some might interpret it (and perhaps the news wanted to imply) because of failure or 'jumping the ship', but so she could launch a bid herself for the company, which she could not do as CEO.