Summary
Genetic testing company 23andMe has filed for bankruptcy, putting the DNA data of millions of users at risk of being sold.
Privacy advocates have urged consumers to delete their data amid fears it could be sold to data brokers or used for targeted advertising.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta advised customers to consider deleting their profiles after the company’s share price crash heightened concerns.
CEO Anne Wojcicki reportedly rejected three takeover bids before the bankruptcy filing, raising questions about the company’s future and data protection.
When I was in college (jeez that’s like 7 years ago) I did my dissertation on the future of privacy and I spent 7-8 pages on DNA tracking like 23andMe.
As a business and invasion of personal identity is immoral.
However the major point of ethicality is for police work, as I believe it was ancestry that helped catch the golden state killer. I believe it was ancestry relative of the serial killer did the test and there was a used cigarette at the site of a murder and tracked back to him.
It’s a whole philosophical debacle. Is it right to keep the dna of millions stored to prevent or capture a handful of potentially dangerous individuals.