Pa. Attorney General Dave Sunday joins lawsuit to block 23andMe's sale of data
On Wednesday morning, Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday announced that his office would be joining a multi-state lawsuit to block 23andMe's sale of consumer data.
The sale comes after the genetic-testing company filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.
"The millions of consumers, including many Pennsylvanians, who paid for these services certainly did not expect their sensitive data to one day be sold off to the highest bidder," Attorney General Sunday said. "23andMe is trying to avoid its legal obligations to consumers simply by labeling this sale and transfer of consumer data as a 'change of ownership.' I continue to encourage 23andMe customers to consider deleting their data from the company's database."
The lawsuit is seeking to object to the bankruptcy sale of personal, genetic information that was compiled by the company from consumers who used the service to learn more about their family history.
They're arguing that biological samples, DNA data, health-related information, and medical records are too sensitive to be sold without the consumer's consent.
Pennsylvanians who used 23andMe can file .
Pennsylvania joins Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin in this lawsuit.
How can I delete my data from 23andMe?
As the company awaits its bankruptcy case, which is set for next month, it has many users of the service asking how they can delete their accounts as well as their data.
"If, at any time, you are no longer interested in participating in our Services, you may delete your 23andMe account directly within your Account Settings," the company states on its website.
While, like most online accounts, deleting your data is a fairly simple process, since declaring bankruptcy, some consumers reported not being able to access their accounts.
Other users found themselves waiting hours for a required two-step authentication verification code to delete their accounts, which they say they never received.
The company said the issues had been resolved by Tuesday and encouraged anyone having trouble accessing their account or deleting their data to visit its site for help.
Deleting your data and account can be done in seven steps, which you can read below.
- Log in to your account
- Go to "settings"
- Scroll to "23andMe data"
- Click "view"
- Scroll to "delete data"
- Click "permanently delete data"
- Confirm your request
Note that you may also download a copy of your genetic data before deleting it from 23andMe's database.
