This is one of the biggest threats to Americans' personal data in decades. If you're a 23andMe customer, I strongly urge you to delete your data to protect it from whoever the new buyer might be. Here’s how:
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Deleting your data probably doesn't delete your data, just your access to it. I mean, the government I thinks has a copy of it all as they use it for finding people now
Deny folk health insurance as markers for as yet nonsymptomatic illness become traceable. Plant it at a crime scene. I'm going with these to for my starter for six points.
Folks, read the fine print. They have your saliva and once you send that shit, it’s theirs and no longer yours. Please try to delete your info AND get your saliva sample back.
As if deleting your data will actually delete it permanently. All data collected is most likely backed up several times in several places. It's theirs forever
I tried deleting an online a/c in the UK last week; they asked me for photographic ID to prove who I am…which funnily enough wasn’t required to verify who I was when creating the account. So I just changed the email to an alias which I have now deactivated, and I poisoned the rest of the data 😏
Yeah, didn’t Ashley Madison (that cheating website) have a delete process that didn’t actually delete as promised. We need internet privacy protection laws like Europe!
Well, I would delete my data but... "Well, this is embarrassing.
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now u see why i never trust genetic companies. id rather not know and be anonymous, than have the building blocks of my dna go on a fire sale at a failed dna tracing business...
For many adoptees this is the only recourse they have to finding out who they are and who their bio families are. That's how someone in my family found their biological dad, cousins, siblings etc.
Thank you @wyden.senate.gov. Folks don't understand the danger if - oh hypothetically some crazy person who believes in eugenics - got hold of the data.
just wait for the fight over the assets.. eg the databases... that I bet it will be really hard for former users to control... like ever giving ANYONE your DNA isa good idea...sheesh
As soon as I saw a corp was selling a service to sequence peoples' DNA almost twenty years ago, I knew it'd be a matter of time before that information is used or stolen to hurt ordinary citizens [the dumbasses who sent their blood to a company & didn't expect it to be used against them, eventually]
Wow, so glad you and your fellow Dems are on the...wait...you are just gonna roll over and get a gentlemanly belly rub again? Time to get the hell off the high road and do something!
I cancelled and deleted my data after they refused remove an estranged family member off my profile page. They couldn’t even give me that minor bit of privacy.
I really think the cats outta the bag. If they want to use my DNA to find out one of my squirrelly cousins committed a crime 50 years ago, I am fine with that
Wait until you’re denied for services only to find out you’ve been profiled as a statistical risk. Data that is based on acquired DNA and modeled in ways you did not approve.
Wow. Your apathy about this matter is disturbing. Kinda like the people who don't mind cameras picking up their every move, because "they have nothing to hide." This is how you get owned. And I just don't know what your advertised "resistorship" is resisting if it's not shit like this.
Because I already gave them my info. They have it. Deleting one copy of it is not going to do squat. It might have not been a great decision but it was like 10 years ago and i was trying to find an uncle that had been lost to adoption for my dad. I guess that makes me akin to maga in your mind?
No, it's just sad to see people seemingly give up before they even start to fight. Sadder still that there's so many "wolves at the door" to fight. I apologize for lashing out at you for something you did with the best of intentions. It wasn't my best work🙏
We desperately need better regulations to protect Americans’ data. Musk, Vance, and tech broligarchs want to tear down the regulatory state so they can use our data to control us. That’s not an exaggeration. They genuinely, unironically want a techno authoritarian empire.
No way on Earth would I give 10cc's of my Lovin' Spoonful to the G so that they can decide what crimes they want me to have committed in the past. I don't know where I've been, and God alone knows where I've inappropriately spritzed my baby batter, so that info is coming with me to the grave.
"23andMe" always sounded like a buddy-cop situation comedy airing on Tuesday nights in the 80's, stemming from the wrong cop jizzing in the wrong cup and they get assigned as partners, with a side-kick dog named Chow-down- sorta like Bj and the Bear meets Max Headroom while molesting Sledge Hammer!
Had you bothered to read the EULA in the first place you never would have used the service.
Like sheep to slaughter the lot of you. It clearly said right up front - if you use their service you're signing over the rights of your genome to them.
I really have no sympathy for idiots at this point.
It's never deleted, you'll have to monitor the buyers including all services that ever bought data from 23andMe and sue them if you can prove they still using it and TOS were violated. That will take insider help, great lawyers and class actions, years if ever to get pennies. Good luck America.
I’m 98% the genetics of a chimpanzee. So glad I paid for that info. 😎Why people pay for this information boggles my mind. Sometimes I think it’s to validate their experiences and prejudices towards others. They feel elevated being part Neanderthal.
I’m dubious on people motivations. BTW. That business model was more about getting your DNA data and monetizing it then ever giving the consumer anything worth something. It’s just a Data grab and you sign off on them owning it and you info. It will be sold to the next highest bidder.
It doesn't matter if you "never had your dna sequenced". If you had a brother, sister, cousin or your parents or close relative have the test, you can be identified or linked.
You know what I don't understand, you all keep putting up these posts about how bad it is, but y'all are doing nothing to grind the Senate to a crawl and make the regime pay for every illegal act it does. Regime Nominees are also still sailing through. And I just don't understand the logic in that.
For what it's worth, I made the comment on this post, but I could've easily done the same on any of the others about the illegal and unconstitutional acts of this regime.
Apparently it's unimaginable that someone might choose to use any post to make point about a politician's or political Party's actions or inaction in general; even when they add a note about it as the second half of the comment. Oi. :/
Boy, you're a funny one. 🙄 Setting aside this does have to do with privacy rights... it's funny that you can't read the second part of this comment before opining.
I remember just when this was getting popular I read an old article on The Verge, or Wired, some tech website that was basically advising against doing these tests because there’s plenty of companies that want their hands on your dna data. Think loans, insurances, etc. So I never did, and look here!
Thank you, Senator and rotisserie chicken enthusiast, I just canceled it through their website and have ZERO faith they will actually get rid of the data because why? Is the Trump administration going to hold them accountable?
It could be. But considering that you can track people through 5th cousins and find their birth parents as I've done. I'd say the Lazarus Project is far more dangerous than any one person's DNA when it's combined with AI as opposed to any one person's DNA genome
I wanted to participate in Canadian cancer research (I had cancer at an early age) but the genetic testing always got forwarded to US companies and I feared my personal data would be over-shared and potentially used against me. I don't consider myself paranoid, it just bugged me. Yet here we are.
Went to delete mine and when I try to log-in the website currently says:
"Update in Progress
Our site is temporarily down for an update.
Thank you for your patience, and please check back soon or visit the 23andMe Brand Store on Amazon."
Please help us ensure we can still delete our data!!
I’m ok - I knew it going into agreeing to it submitting my saliva. I am more concerned about musk and my money …. Explain why I should be MORE concerned about 23andMe over Musk/DOGE. Need details as I do not understand - sincerely
CAUTION:
If you've ever sent data to this company, PLEASE make sure you wipe your account completely before they go into receivership. Otherwise, your data will surely be sold to the company that buys the remnants of 23&Me.
They've had this information for a long time now and have been selling it the entire time. Don't panic about it. Deleting it won't delete the sold stuff.
Problem started with USA not caring about consumer data privacy - not by social media moguls, not by DNA testing companies.
How about you acknowledge persons as the rightful owner of their data, you know, just like in EU?
It doesn’t raise any eyebrows that a service that traces your lineage through dna has had a data breach of this scale? No one is going to wonder who stole the data? And why? It’s ridiculous, private personal information and even dna is not enough to add layers of security to protect its citizens
I'm sure that when a huge insurance Co. buys it, your genetic information will never be used to increase premiums because you are predisposed to certain health conditions.
Some of us have had to get our DNA tested for inherited genetic diseases, ie, breast cancer. I don't know what companies doctors use for that. I guess I'll have to write my doc.
Biotech has always been very particular about what "belongs," to all person once it leaves their body... Currently, people need to provide consent to give their cells or blood for science or profit. Maybe it's time to include DNA with that restriction.
The foolish people who climbed onboard to give away their most private information. Granted it's awesome to know your ancestral connections but what you're giving up is not trivial, esp when it can be used against not just yourself but all close family members as well. People just never think.
Many years ago I joined https://Ancestry.com & recd a DNA swab kit. I thought about taking it & how cool it would be. Then the weird thoughts about the Govt being able to know my DNA makeup weirded me out. As of today, that test kit is still in my cupboard. Unopened. Guess my gut was right. Nice, but sad🤨
I want to see you calling for the resignation of all the clowns on the bombing text thread - every single member of the house in Congress should be calling for these resignations
I got in, but the site is running really, really slow, presumably because of server overloads. There is an entire page devoted to the current bankruptcy news and assurances that everything is secure and fine. Before you delete your account I recommend you ask for a genome file to store on a drive
What about e.g. genetic children of customers? Is there some way people whose data is involved (even if they weren’t customers) can protect themselves?
Feels like $$ is being given more rights and power than 🧬
You can’t even log in at this point. Their two factor authentication, mandated once you enter user name and password, (and it supposed to email a 6 digit code to them get into your account) never sends the email. I am on day two of just trying to log in.
Same here, and this is vindication of my main reason not to do it. Molecular Biology is one of my specialties, so I was curious to see what results I would get, but I was very concerned about privacy.
Not a customer but keeping my data with other organizations very close to home. I no longer give medical facilities my soc. security #. One of them refused to treat me and I was ok. I'm not sharing this kind of info anymore.
For years I have urged my friends to never give your most personal information to a for-profit corporation. It certainly will be bought and sold to the worst players for the right price or in a fire sale.
I have an account with that company and so do close family members. Looks like we’ll have to delete our accounts. This is ridiculous and I’m pissed that a site that was deemed safe is no longer. All I wanted to do was find out my ancestry. 😡😡
Is it possible for @cagov.bsky.social to enforce and verify a deletion of consumer data by a certain date instead of putting the onus wholly on consumers?
I imagine there may be those that have forgotten they've submitted samples to #23andMe or individuals that have lost access to their account ...
Telling the app to delete my data is a futile exercise. I’m sure the company keeps archives, what guarantees do I have that it will be deleted there too? Also, hate to be cynical but I’d lay bets that my data has already been copied to some nefarious entity.
"However, as the company's privacy policy states, '23andMe and/or our contracted genotyping laboratory will retain your Genetic Information, date of birth, and sex as required for compliance with applicable legal obligations.'"
Outrageous that data like this should be held long term. You should be able to get your test, data stays on system for 6 months and then is gone. If you want another type of analysis done later, go through the process again. No good reason for them to keep it
Oregonian here to thank Mr. Wyden, I already deleted my data a few months ago when I saw the news. It was easy to delete it at that time, but you do need to remember your login data. Thankfully I have a password manager app because I haven't used the 23andme website in many years.
You can direct them to delete…doesn’t mean they will. Especially if there’s $$$ involved. I hate to be cynical but really, do US Americans ever do anything that might cause them to lose profits? It’s in our DNA.
IKR they purchased the database. The info they had every right to purchase. and the worthless subscribers? 😂 there’s a reason the CEO fled. Dollars to donuts the Data was held in some sort of impound account until sale negotiated.
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Oh, sorry, we can’t provide cover to you, because it says here you might develop cancer in 65 years time.
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It's like right out of a 60s late night sci-fi movie.
"Your DNA will be required for future control of all citizens. How do we get people to turn over a DNA sample without them suspecting anything?"
A good chance this database and others are already compromised...
Perhaps parents should teach their children about the value of their personal data because predators thrive on this naivete.
IT’S NOT SAFE!
https://youtube.com/shorts/SFSnnxK6hqk?si=GkYgc5RS5mA1uGPR
Like sheep to slaughter the lot of you. It clearly said right up front - if you use their service you're signing over the rights of your genome to them.
I really have no sympathy for idiots at this point.
All the 'little people' like me who don't have a voice...please listen....SOMEONE please listen!!!
🤣🤣🤣
Goddamn idiots.
"Update in Progress
Our site is temporarily down for an update.
Thank you for your patience, and please check back soon or visit the 23andMe Brand Store on Amazon."
Please help us ensure we can still delete our data!!
If you've ever sent data to this company, PLEASE make sure you wipe your account completely before they go into receivership. Otherwise, your data will surely be sold to the company that buys the remnants of 23&Me.
If you are a 23andMe customer client read this it's important. Your medical data might be breached.
How about you acknowledge persons as the rightful owner of their data, you know, just like in EU?
go on the offensive and start bankrupting these people
without funding, none of these Republican traitors will continue their current destruction
money is their only weapon
take it away and then it’s a fair fight
But there's now way in fk they're gonna delete your data. lol. the joke is on you.
I want to see you calling for the resignation of all the clowns on the bombing text thread - every single member of the house in Congress should be calling for these resignations
I wonder who got there ahead of us.
Feels like $$ is being given more rights and power than 🧬
You needed to delete your data last year, in all likelihood.
Had we a competent government, we could oversee the corporate purchase and monitor data usage as it should anyway
https://youtu.be/zl2YCS8UZEo?si=rWcBe3qnwyHhcO-4
By DNA I mean sploodge.
Buy me dinner first?
Beware! (it's happened before)
They certainly have amazing usefulness, & I was always one Christmas gift away from doing it.
We just don’t live in a world with honest government or law enforcement, & DNA can be abused in horrible ways.
I imagine there may be those that have forgotten they've submitted samples to #23andMe or individuals that have lost access to their account ...
The high ground on our freedoms and safety is truly available to elected Ds right this minute
https://bsky.app/profile/maxkennerly.bsky.social/post/3ll5f2ps4dc2n
No, that would be YOU, the IRS website, Pentagon website, SS website, banks, hospitals, doctors offices, the DMV, etc...