23andMe is out of bankruptcy. You should still delete your DNA.
By Geoffrey A. Fowler,
The Washington Post
| 07. 17. 2025
Nearly 2 million people protected their privacy by deleting their DNA from 23andMe after it declared bankruptcy in March. Now it’s back with the same person in charge — and I still don’t trust it.
Nor do the attorneys general of California, North Carolina, Maryland and Connecticut, who each told me they still recommend people delete their accounts. There are ways to do it even if you have forgotten your log-in information. Tell family members, too.
Here’s why: Bankruptcy made 23andMe the poster child for America’s lax privacy protections — and it hasn’t substantially changed its ways. As of this week, genetic data from the more than 10 million remaining 23andMe customers has been formally sold to an organization called TTAM Research Institute for $305 million. That nonprofit is run by the person who co-founded and ran 23andMe, Anne Wojcicki.
In a recent email to customers, the new 23andMe said it “will be operating with the same employees and privacy protocols that have protected your data.” Never mind that Wojcicki and her privacy protocols are what put your DNA...
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