Congress has questions about 23andMe bankruptcy

3The leaders of the Home Committee on Power and Commerce stated they’re investigating how 23andMe’s chapter would possibly have an effect on prospects’ information.

Representatives Brett Guthrie, Gus Bilirakis, and Gary Palmer (all Republicans) sent a letter Thursday to the genetic testing firm’s interim CEO Joe Selsavage asking various questions on how 23andMe will deal with buyer information if the corporate is bought.

The letter additionally says that some prospects have reported issues deleting their information from the 23andMe web site, and it notes that direct-to-consumer firms like 23andMe are typically not lined by the protections of the Well being Insurance coverage Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

“Given the dearth of HIPAA protections, the patchwork of state legal guidelines masking genetic privateness, and the uncertainty surrounding what occurs to buyer data ought to a sale of an organization or buyer information and knowledge transpire, we’re involved that this trove of delicate data is vulnerable to being comprised,” the representatives write.

23andMe, which settled a data breach lawsuit for $30 million final 12 months, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in March, with co-founder and CEO Anne Wojciki saying she was resigning to change into a personal bidder for the corporate.