23andMe Goes Down, Putting Millions of People's Data at Risk

©Reuters

Once the star of consumer DNA testing, 23andMe is in free fall and threatens to be delisted from the stock market. Behind this collapse, a crucial question: what will become of the millions of genetic profiles collected, at the heart of ethical and security issues ?

At the time when 23andMe was competing on the stock market with Apple, sending your saliva to discover your origins and genetic secrets was a global craze. The problem is that the company now has a multitude of sensitive data on a lot of people.

In the midst of a financial meltdown, with its stock price falling from $321 to less than $5, 23andMe is playing for its survival. Without a sustainable business model or profits from drug research, their future is uncertain, judges Dimitris Andriosopoulos, an expert in responsible business, whose words are reported by the BBC. The media also reveals that rumors of a sale are fueling speculation. Rivals and regulators fear that this genetic goldmine could fall into the wrong hands, reigniting an explosive debate over data privacy.

But 23andMe is no ordinary tech startup. As Carissa Veliz, author of , points outPrivacy is Power, “if you give your data to 23andMe, you also give them the genetic data of your parents, siblings, children, and even distant relatives who have not given their consent.” A vulnerability accentuated by the hack suffered by the company last year. Even if the company claims to respect legal standards, precedents show that guarantees sometimes fall with bankruptcy or cyberattacks.

Faced with this unprecedented risk, stricter regulation seems inevitable. “As long as we have not banned the trade in personal data, we will not be sufficiently protected,” insists Veliz. 

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