23andMe is bankrupt - how to delete data

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Millions of people, including me, have had genetic analysis by 23andMe. The huge database has led to amazing family discoveries, such as a cousin who was discovered (at age 45, along with his children) and reunited with his unknown father the week before his father died of cancer. This cousin never felt like his supposed siblings but – surprise – has talents and character that fits right in with our family. (Not to mention that he looks just like his father except with darker skin.) He changed his last name to his biological father’s name and has been welcomed into our family with open arms.

Unfortunately, 23andMe has announced bankruptcy. Anyone with data at 23andMe should probably delete it since it will not be secure.

https://www.wsj.com/tech/biotech/23-and-me-bankruptcy-genetic-data-what-happens-625794fc

23andMe Is Bankrupt. Here’s What You Need to Know About Your Genetic Data.

The genetic testing company holds biological information on millions of people

By Alicia McElhaney and
Alexander Gladstone, The Wall Street Journal, Updated March 24, 2025

…

How do I delete my 23andMe account data?

Log in to your 23andMe account and go to the “Settings” section of your profile. Then scroll to a section labeled “23andMe Data” at the bottom of the page. Click “View” next to “23andMe Data.” You can download your genetic data if you want a copy for personal storage.

After that, scroll to the “Delete Data” section and click “Permanently Delete Data.” You will receive an email from 23andMe. Follow the link in the data to confirm your deletion request. [end quote]

Wendy

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I have thought about having a test, just for the halibut, to see where the French/German portions are…probably a good share of Italian/Roman because my dad’s dark complexion and wavy black hair didn’t look very Nordic, even though his forebears were supposedly from the Normandy coast. Never got around to it tho.

Steve

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Think very carefully before you take one of these tests. if you read the fine print, you are agreeing to share your genetic information with third parties. This might have downstream ramifications for you, or even your relatives.

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Third parties such as Ancestry.com, which has (had?) a direct business promotion with them and uses their data to “suggest” connections between paying Ancestry members.

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How long before Eloon buys the data?

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He would have to buy the company–and also required to comply with privacy/secrecy policy of 23andMe originally used by the company with its customers. This specific point was mentioned in the local news this evening.

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Deleted my own, working on DW’s, and posted a note on our family FB page so folks can delete what they need to, at least the ties are broken that I had linked in the chart, I have all the info and more in my genealogy App, Reunion, for the Mac, so nothing lost, really, but it is a sad situation to see the possibilities of creeps on high using the info… Best to be out of there…

It, the 23 site, is giving me fits when I do try to log in, sends a code, they say, but it doesn’t show up in my email until long after I was interested… Maybe overloaded…

Thanks Wendy!

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And if they roger you over, you may or may not be able to take them to court after the damage is done. Good luck with that.

If I’ve learned one thing in my 60 times around the sun, I’ve learned that corporate goons don’t care about me or my privacy.

There is no fff’ing way I trust Elmo with my genetic information, regardless of what contracts he’s supposed to comply with.

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Me either. Which is why I never used it.

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How do you know if they REALLY delete it? I mean, when you request deletion, I’m sure they remove it from their current database, and probably even delete the actual data in their current database. But, I suspect that they don’t go to all their backups, their onsite backups, and their offsite backups, and delete it there as well. Because that’s a much bigger job. Furthermore, I wonder how securely they do the actual deletion? Do they actually overwrite those disk segments sufficiently? Probably not.

And if they’ve already been compromised, maybe the data has already been copied to elsewhere.

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In my in-box this morning…

On June 27, 2025, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri approved the proposed purchase of all of the assets of 23andMe by TTAM Research Institute (“TTAM”), and we anticipate that the sale will close on or as soon as reasonably practicable after July 8, 2025.

TTAM is a nonprofit medical research organization founded by Anne Wojcicki (Co-Founder and former CEO of 23andMe). TTAM’s charitable mission is to continue the innovative research and scientific discoveries that were core to 23andMe, while expanding its active conduct of medical research and educational activities to empower individuals to learn about their own genomes and advance our knowledge of human health.

Customer privacy is at the core of TTAM’s mission of helping individuals gain insight into, and benefit from, their genetic information. TTAM is committed to adhering to 23andMe’s existing privacy policies of always honoring customers with choice and transparency…

We plan to continue providing the same types of products and services 23andMe has provided and we also look forward to expanding the innovative research and scientific discoveries that were core to 23andMe, now as a nonprofit research institution…

DB2

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This will probably not be received well, but I have to say it. And I am glad that it worked out happily for you and family, but…

I really don’t get the concept of being “reunited” with someone you have never known. You might as well be “reunited” with some guy working at a dry cleaners across town.

Oh, OK, I get it, fertilization/egg, sure. But to believe you are being reunited you have to believe in that “bloodlines” kind of thing, like in the old days with kings and pharaohs and stuff, and if we’ve learned anything across the thousands of years history, there’s not a lot there. Your brother can be an ax murderer and you can be a PhD in astrophysics.

Yes, I go to family reunions and see my brother & sisters, although we are not what I could call “sickeningly close”, so I get the concept of “reunion”. We are people, adults, who lived together for a time and now don’t. It’s nice to see them. It’s also nice not to live with them anymore.

I have had this “every person is an island unto themself” philosophy for my entire life, so my latest example is a validation of, not a cause of it. Recently one of Mrs. Goofy’s sisters has come on with a rather sudden case of dementia, is abusive toward her husband, has become overly paranoid of everything and everyone.

She has wanted to have nothing to do with family her entire adult life, and her husband has felt the same, keeping a watchful distance from the rest of us for 50 years. That’s been fine with us, she/and he are not the sort we would pal around with anyway.

But suddenly, now that she is in distress, he wants us all to “come together and face this as a family”, when prior he had no use for family at all. Bah.

I have friends, some close personal friends, who I support emotionally and in one case financially,and I get the concept. But “reunion” with someone I don’t know - or have no use for?

I don’t think so.

There I said it. Change my mind.

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Just to provide an alternate example, I can’t imagine being an island unto myself. Raising a child is more than sufficient to remove that notion from my head.

Parents or older mentors who have been through child rearing and can provide insights on everything from changing a diaper to dealing with teenage angst and rebellion are invaluable.

Teachers who provide alternate inputs to expose your child to both different ways of thinking and reinforcement of societal right and wrong are another great good.

Siblings or peers who are going through the same struggles, from raising a child to empty nesting to dealing with aging parents and even the loss of a loved one help me share the joys and cope with the difficulties.

In my case, I am close to both of my siblings - both emotionally and physically. I also keep in touch with extended family, both mine and my late wife’s.

I am not an island. I am a villager and a part of a wider community.

—Peter

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I was adopted as a very young child, and back in the day everything was kept very confidential. It wasn’t until I did a DNA test and later talked with cousins that I found out my back story. It didn’t change my life, but I found it very interesting.

DB2

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I didn’t sign into 23 & Me to b reunited, but rather to look backward to my roots. My parents generation were old school, I guess, or for sure my Dad was, never talked, discussed his ancestry, his parents, etc.. I discovered through my own research that Dad’s father had a brother, so while that didn’t come directly from 23& Me, it piqued my/pur interest in where we began. I
ve dove into genealogy over the years, managed to fill in blanks for many of us, the few other relatives that also did 23 & Me helped them find the connections. Luckily I have it all in a very good program on my Mac, Reunion, over 3,300 entries, linked, charts if needed, answered a ton of questions about the early days for both my self & my wife’s side, still some gaps, but the basics are there, to be shared if they are interested, I did create a large chart in 23 & Me, but since deleted it, not knowing who would take it over, may have to rebuild it… Via genealogy efforts, we managed some decent reunions in the '90s, Sadly many of those elders have since passed, next generations haven’t shown the interests we had back then.. Life goes on, I track recent events, deaths, additions as they come along.. All of it is only as good as one makes it, the time spent, the details recorded.. But also very personal, not to be shared on the web…

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