A 23andMe saliva assortment package is proven on March 25, 2025, in Oakland, Calif.
Barbara Ortutay/AP
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Barbara Ortutay/AP
PORTLAND, Ore. — Twenty-seven states and the District of Columbia on Monday filed a lawsuit in chapter court docket in search of to dam the sale of private genetic knowledge by 23andMe with out buyer consent. The lawsuit comes as a biotechnology firm seeks the court docket’s approval to purchase the struggling agency.
Organic samples, DNA knowledge, health-related traits and medical information are too delicate to be bought with out every individual’s specific, knowledgeable consent, Oregon Legal professional Common Dan Rayfield mentioned in a information launch concerning the lawsuit. Prospects ought to have the appropriate to manage such deeply private info and it can’t be bought like odd property, it mentioned.
23andMe prospects use saliva-based DNA testing kits to find out about their ancestry and discover long-lost family members. Based in 2006, the corporate additionally performed well being analysis and drug growth. Nevertheless it struggled to discover a worthwhile enterprise mannequin since going public in 2021. In March it laid off 40% of its employees and filed for Chapter 11 chapter safety within the Jap District of Missouri, elevating considerations concerning the security of buyer knowledge.
Regeneron Prescription drugs mentioned final month it aimed to purchase the corporate for $256 million. Regeneron mentioned it will adjust to 23andMe’s privateness insurance policies and relevant legislation. It mentioned it will course of all buyer private knowledge in accordance with the consents, privateness insurance policies and statements, phrases of service, and notices presently in impact and have safety controls in place designed to guard such knowledge.
A court-appointed, unbiased shopper privateness ombudsman was as a result of study the proposed sale and the way it may have an effect on shopper privateness and report back to the court docket by Tuesday.
