The company 23andMe, which is currently in bankruptcy, is in the business of performing DNA tests to determine the genetic data of its customers’ ancestors.
These tests are very simple to use. For about €50, the company mails its customers a kit with which they take a saliva sample, put it in a tube and send it back to 23amdMe for analysis.
A few weeks later they receive the results and discover the geographical origins of their ancestors.
Now, after declaring bankruptcy, the company is considering selling its database containing the DNA of its 15 million customers in an attempt to clean up its accounts.
In its early years, the company was very successful, in fact, three years ago its shares were valued at $321, but this year the value of the shares has plummeted.
The failure is reportedly due to a number of factors, including the fact that, after the DNA report, customers no longer needed the company’s services and therefore did not return. It also did not seem cost-effective to compile an anonymized version of the DNA database for drug research, given the long time it takes to develop a drug.
To further aggravate the company’s situation, last summer the board of directors resigned and only the company’s co-founder and CEO, Anne Wojcicki, remains in her position at this time.
In addition, one of the current problems is that the company possesses not only the data of its customers, but also of their relatives, parents, siblings and children, who share part of their DNA with them.
Added to this is the fact that last year the company suffered a cyber-attack, so its clients’ data could already be compromised.
The right to privacy
Genetic data, nowadays accessible through diagnostic techniques at a lower cost, constitute a heritage of the personal identity of individuals that must be preserved against attempts at dissemination or commercialization.
Its use beyond strict health-related objectives may promote discrimination or attacks on the dignity of those affected, which should be avoided at all costs.
Health-related data, and genetic data in particular, are subject to the utmost protection by the agencies responsible, so the possibility of their commercialization could violate individuals’ right to privacy.
