The genetic testing company 23andMe has filed for bankruptcy, prompting people who’ve used the service and sent in DNA samples to be analyzed to wonder what will happen to their genetic data.
The company says the filing does not change how it stores, manages or protects customer data. But some privacy experts are recommending that people who have used 23andMe delete their data, given concerns not only about a potential buyer getting access to sensitive information, but also hackers who might take advantage of the upheaval to gain access to it.
“What we’re witnessing with 23andMe is a stark wake-up call for data privacy,” said Adrianus Warmenhoven, a cybersecurity expert at NordVPN. “Genetic data isn’t just a bit of personal information — it is a blueprint of your entire biological profile. When a company goes under, this personal data is an asset to be sold with potentially far-reaching consequences."
23andMe filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sunday. Anne Wojcicki, who co-founded the company nearly two decades ago and has served as its CEO, stepped down effectively immediately. The San Francisco-based company said that it will look to sell “substantially all of its assets” through a court-approved reorganization plan.
Wojcicki's resignation comes just weeks after a board committee rejected a nonbinding acquisition proposal from her to take the company private.
Wojcicki still intends to bid on 23andMe as the company pursues a sale through the bankruptcy process. In a statement on social media, Wojcicki said that she resigned as CEO to be “in the best position” as an independent bidder.
23andMe says that filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection will help facilitate a sale of the company, meaning that it’s seeking new ownership. The company said it wants to pull back on its real estate footprint and has asked the court to reject lease contracts in San Francisco and Sunnyvale, California and elsewhere to help cut costs. But the company plans to keep operating during the process.
In a post about the Chapter 11 process, 23andMe said its users’ privacy and data are important considerations in any transaction and that any buyer will be required to comply with applicable laws when it comes to how it treats customer data.
But experts note that laws have limits — for instance, the U.S. has no federal privacy law and only about 20 states do.
There are also security concerns. For instance, the turmoil of a bankruptcy and related job cuts could leave fewer employees to protect customers' data against hackers. It wouldn't be the first time — a 2023 data breach exposed the genetic data of nearly 7 million customers at 23andMe, which later agreed to pay $30 million in cash to settle a class-action lawsuit accusing the company of failing to protect customers whose personal information was exposed.
Experts note that DNA data is particularly sensitive — and thus valuable.
“At a fundamental biological level, this is you and only you,” said David Choffnes, a computer science professor at Northeastern University and executive director of its Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute. “If you have an email address that gets compromised, you can find another email provider and start using a new email address. And you’re pretty much able to move on with your life without problem. And you just can’t do that with your genetic code.”
23andMe says it does not share information with health insurance companies, employers or public databases without users' consent and with law enforcement only if required by a valid legal process, such as a subpoena. Choffnes said while that's good, it's a fairly narrow set of categories.
“There’s still other things that they are allowed to do with that data, including, as they mentioned, provide cross context, behavioral or targeted advertising,” he said. “So, you know, in a sense, even if they aren’t sending your personal data to an advertiser, there’s a long line of research that identifies how third parties can re-identify you from de-identified data by looking for patterns in it. And so if they’re targeting you with advertisements, for example, based on some information that they have about your genetic data, there’s probably a way that other parties could piece together other information they have access to.”
California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued an urgent consumer alert Friday — before 23andMe filed for bankruptcy — noting the company's financial distress and reminding people they have the right to have their data deleted.
If you have a 23andMe account, you can delete your data by logging in and going to “settings” and scrolling to a section called “23andMe Data” at the bottom of the page. Then, click “View,” download it if you want a copy then go to the “Delete Data” section and click “Permanently Delete Data.” 23andMe will email you to confirm and you will need to follow the link in the email to confirm your deletion request.
If you previously asked 23andMe to store your saliva sample and DNA, you can also ask that it be destroyed by going to your account settings and clicking on “Preferences.” And you can withdraw consent to third-party researchers to use your genetic data and sample under “Research and Product Consents.”
This March 25, 2025 photo shows a 23andMe saliva collection kit in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Barbara Ortutay)
BANGKOK (AP) — The death toll from Myanmar's powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake keeps climbing amid rescue efforts.
The military government said Saturday that 1,644 people have been killed, with thousands of others injured and dozens missing.
The earthquake struck midday Friday, followed by several aftershocks, including one that measured 6.4.
In Thailand, the quake rocked the greater Bangkok area, leaving 10 people dead.
Several countries, including Malaysia, Russia and China have dispatched rescue and relief teams.
Here is the latest:
Myanmar’s ruling military said on state television that the confirmed death toll from the 7.7 magnitude earthquake increased to 1,644.
The new total is a sharp rise compared to the 1,002 total announced just hours earlier. The number of injured increased to 3,408, while the missing figure rose to 139 from Friday's quake.
Russia has sent a medical team to Myanmar to care for earthquake victims, a Health Ministry official said.
According to Alexey Kuznetsov, the medics include specialists in infectious diseases, resuscitation and traumatology.
Separately, Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said that two planes carrying Russian rescue workers have landed in Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon.
Earlier, the ministry reported that a mission, including search and rescue teams, canine units, anaesthesiologists and psychologists, was on its way to the disaster-stricken country.
The ministry said that its rescue teams are equipped with “endoscopes and acoustic devices for searching for people in rubble up to 4.5 meters (nearly 15 feet) deep, as well as ground-penetrating radars and thermal imagers.”
Hong Kong sent a group of 51 search-and-rescue personnel to help with earthquake relief efforts in Myanmar. The group includes firefighters and ambulance personnel as well as two search-and-rescue dogs, among others.
The group brings along nine tons (18,000 pounds) of equipment including life detectors and masonry cutting machines, as well as an automatic satellite tracking antenna system that provides network connection, according to a statement on the Hong Kong government’s website.
Satellite photos from Planet Labs PBC analyzed by The Associated Press show the earthquake toppled the air traffic control tower at Naypyitaw International Airport.
The photos taken Saturday show the tower toppled over as if sheered from its base. Debris lay scattered from the top of the tower, which controlled all air traffic in the capital of Myanmar.
It wasn’t immediately clear if there had been any injuries in the collapse, though the tower would have had staff inside of it at the time of the earthquake Friday. It likely also stopped air traffic into the international airport, given all electronics and radar would have been routed into the tower for controllers.
Flights carrying rescue teams from China have landed at the airport in Yangon instead of going directly to the airports in the major stricken cities of Mandalay and Naypyitaw.
A spokesperson for the China International Development Cooperation Agency said that Beijing will provide Myanmar with 100 million yuan ($13.8 million) in emergency humanitarian aid for earthquake relief efforts.
An additional rescue team of 82 people left Bejing, hours after a different team of emergency responders from the Chinese province of Yunnan, bordering Myanmar, arrived in the earthquake-stricken country.
Additionally, 16 members of the Chinese civil relief squad Blue Sky Rescue Team in the city of Ruili, Yunnan, departed to Muse City in northern Myanmar to help with relief efforts, according to state broadcaster CGTN. Chinese authorities also sent a first batch of 80 tents and 290 blankets.
Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping extended condolences to Myanmar’s leader Min Aung Hlaing.
The earthquake was felt in parts of China's Yunnan province, though casualties were limited. Two people in Ruili suffered minor injuries and 847 homes were damaged, according to authorities. Some high-rise buildings and older houses in urban areas were also partially damaged, but power and water supplies and transportation and communications lines have been restored.
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters says that his government will support relief efforts “via the International Red Cross Movement."
“Our thoughts are with all those who have lost loved ones, and to everyone else affected,” Peters posted on X.
South Korea will send the aid through international organizations to support recovery efforts following the recent earthquake.
The Foreign Ministry stated on Saturday that Seoul will closely monitor the situation and consider additional support if needed.
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese rescuers arrive at the Yangon International Airport in Yangon, Myanmar on Saturday, March 29, 2025. (Haymhan Aung/Xinhua via AP)
In this photo taken from video released by Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service on Saturday, March 29, 2025, Russian Emergency Ministry employees gather to board one of two planes with rescuers to Myanmar following Friday's earthquake, from a Moscow airfield, Russia. (Russia Emergency Ministry press service via AP)
Rescuers walk past the ruin of a high-rise building under construction that collapsed after a strong earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
People stand near a damaged construction site of a high-rise building in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, March 29, 2025, as rescuers search for victims following its collapse after Friday's earthquake. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Rescuers search for victims at the site of a high-rise building under construction that collapsed after a strong earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, early Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
Rescue workers help an injured women who was trapped under a building Friday, March 28, 2025, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
In this image provided by The Myanmar Military True News Information Team, Myanmar's military leader Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, center, inspects damaged road caused by an earthquake Friday, March 28, 2025, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. (The Myanmar Military True News Information Team via AP)
Rescuers search for victims at the site of a high-rise building under construction that collapsed after a strong earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, early Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
Patients are evacuated outdoors at a hospital after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, March 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Tadchakorn Kitchaiphon)
Rescue workers take an injured man who was trapped under a building Friday, March 28, 2025, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
People wait at the damaged construction site of a high-rise building in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, March 29, 2025, as rescuers search for victims following its collapse after an earthquake. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
Relatives of workers of a high-rise building under construction that collapsed after a strong earthquake wait as rescuers search for victims, in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Rescuers work at the site a high-rise building under construction that collapsed after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, early Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
Volunteers look for survivors near a damaged building Friday, March 28, 2025, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
In this image provided by The Myanmar Military True News Information Team, victims caused by an earthquake is seen compound of government hospital Friday, March 28, 2025, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. (The Myanmar Military True News Information Team via AP)
