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Congressional hearing spotlights national security and privacy risks in 23andMe bankruptcy sale
Summary
Lawmakers grilled 23andMe executives and a law professor about how the genetic testing company's Chapter 11 sale could expose the genetic data of millions to misuse, foreign adversaries or commercial exploitation; witnesses described company protections and ongoing court-supervised sale terms.
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers told executives from 23andMe on Wednesday that the company’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy and pending asset sale raise national security and consumer-privacy concerns for millions of Americans who provided genetic samples.
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a full committee hearing titled “Securing Americans’ Genetic Information, Privacy, and National Security Concerns Surrounding 23andMe’s Bankruptcy Sale.” Chairman James Comer opened the hearing by saying he was convening lawmakers to examine “privacy and national security concerns surrounding 23andMe bankruptcy sale,” and to press witnesses on who might gain access to customers’ sensitive genetic information.
The hearing focused on three interlocking issues: the scale of personal genetic data held by 23andMe, the company’s historical data-sharing and security practices, and the risk that the database could be transferred to a buyer whose actions would put Americans’ data at risk. Anne Wojcicki, cofounder and former CEO of 23andMe, Joseph Selzavage, interim CEO, and Margaret Hu, a law professor and director of the Digital Democracy Lab at William & Mary, testified and answered…
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