States challenge bankrupt 23andMe’s right to auction genetic information

23DME bankruptcy faces a lawsuit for its plans to sell genetic information to customers.

The twenty -seven states and provinces of Colombia have taken legal measures this week against 23andme in the American Banking Court of the Eastern Region of Missouri, the court supervised the bankruptcy procedures, Chapter 11, which was entered by the genetic tests company earlier in the year.

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The states claim that 23andme “is not entitled to sell its clients’ genetic identities to the highest bidder” unless the company gets “first[s] Explicitly informed approval of the transaction/transport proposed by each consumer affected. ”

They want the bankruptcy court to rule on “whether the genetic tests company” can “sell and transfer it to a third party such an intimate customer data without first obtaining an explicit enlightened approval from its customers”, according to the submission of the deposit.

In the deposit, the states said they “do not objectively oppose any sale”, but “the claim that the rapid and enlightened approval by each customer is essential before any transfer of that customer’s data occurs.”

The Attorneys General that Filed the Lawsuit Represent Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, The District of Columbia, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Kentuccy, Louisiana, MAINE, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Uta, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Western Virginia and Yeskon.

23andme Probe has been launched to prevent the sale of DNA data to customers to China or other bad actors

“23ndme cannot public auction millions of personal genetic information for people without their consent,” the Prosecutor of New York Lettia James said in a statement. “New York residents and many others across the country in 23andme trust their own information, and they have the right to know what to do with their information.”

Mountain Vio, Personal Genome in Mountain Vio, California, is seen on October 28, 2018. (Smith Collection / GADO / Getty Images)

A spokesman for 23ndme told Fox Business that the arguments made by the public prosecutor in the case were “without merit.”

“The sale is permitted according to the 23ndme privacy policies and the applicable law,” the spokesman said. “We have asked any bidder to adopt our policies and comply with the law in force as a condition to participate in our sales process. Customers will continue to obtain the same rights and protection in the hands of the winning bidder.”

I have committed to the rest of the shows, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and TTAM Institute for TTAM, to adhere to 23ndme private policies, and they will continue to work 23andme as it has always been operated, “according to the 23andme spokesman.

One of the infantry walks at the 23ndme headquarters in Sanifel, California, on February 1, 2024. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Emp)

In May, New York -based Regrinon announced that she was appointed to a successful auction at a “everything” auction of 23andme, with $ 256 million.

23DME bankruptcy: Will your private data be protected?

After that, 23ndme received a $ 305 million offer from the TTAM Research Institute, which was established and the Ujiki, paving the way for another auction.

The genetic test company, Chapter 11, entered bankruptcy in March to facilitate the sale of its business. In the bankruptcy petition, the company estimated a group of $ 100 million to $ 500 million for its assets, with the estimated obligations in the same range.

23andme was originally established in 2006.