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irisblue

(33,928 posts)
Tue Oct 15, 2024, 03:11 PM Tuesday

23&Me dna company is in money trouble, might sell the info

Source-https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2024/09/23andme-dna-data-privacy-sale/680057/

Remember That DNA You Gave 23andMe?
The company is in trouble, and anyone who has spit into one of its test tubes should be concerned.

By Kristen V. Brown


snip-"23andMe is not doing well. Its stock is on the verge of being delisted. It shut down its in-house drug-development unit last month, only the latest in several rounds of layoffs. Last week, the entire board of directors quit, save for Anne Wojcicki, a co-founder and the company’s CEO. Amid this downward spiral, Wojcicki has said she’ll consider selling 23andMe—which means the DNA of 23andMe’s 15 million customers would be up for sale, too."


More there

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intrepidity

(7,780 posts)
1. Perhaps such a sale would include whatever privacy provisions are included?
Tue Oct 15, 2024, 03:15 PM
Tuesday

Sales contracts can stipulate such things, can't they?

SWBTATTReg

(23,891 posts)
3. Interesting and also, a source of future danger I am guessing. What if a specific genetic combo is discovered that
Tue Oct 15, 2024, 03:31 PM
Tuesday

is of immense benefit, who would benefit, the company or the donator of the genes? Imagine that such a genetic mix that was found, could be the future source of a cure for a type of cancer, or some flu, or something else? Everyone I think, over the years, and the mixing of the vast gene pool of the human race, has the potential to have an unique mix of genes that could be of unlimited potential (and of course the reverse could be true too).

irisblue

(33,928 posts)
4. There was a data breach at 23&Me on 6 October 2023
Tue Oct 15, 2024, 03:52 PM
Tuesday

Source-Wiki-The 23andMe data leak was a data breach at personal genomics company 23andMe reported in October 2023. The cyberattack gathered profile and ethnicity information from millions of users. The affected customers were reported as primarily Ashkenazi Jews but also including hundreds of thousands of ethnically Chinese users.[1] The hacker(s) stole information customers had chosen to share with their DNA matches, which could include name, profile photo, birth year, location, family surnames, grandparents' birthplaces, ethnicity estimates, mitochondrial DNA haplogroup, Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup, link to external family tree, and any text content a customer had









optionally included in their "About" section. On October 6, 2023, the company confirmed that the hacker(s) had illicitly accessed data on approximately 6.9 million users.


From NBC news-23andMe user data targeting Ashkenazi Jews leaked online
A database that has been shared on dark web forums and viewed by NBC News has a list of 999,999 people who allegedly have used the service.


Hackers have compiled a giant apparent list of people with Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry after taking that information from the genetic testing service 23andMe, which is now being shared on the internet.

A database that has been shared on dark web forums and viewed by NBC News has a list of 999,999 people who allegedly have used the service. It includes their first and last name, sex, and 23andMe’s evaluation of where their ancestors came from. The database is titled “ashkenazi DNA Data of Celebrities,” though most of the people on it aren’t famous, and it appears to have been sorted to only include people with Ashkenazi heritage.- entire article.



Please note the date; on 7 October 2023 was the date of the Hamas led attack in Isreal

PeaceWave

(732 posts)
5. I'm still upset with my niece for selling the whole family's genetic info so she could...
Tue Oct 15, 2024, 05:13 PM
Tuesday

find out that she's .5% Ashkenazi Jewish.

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