Attorney general advises South Carolinians to delete 23andMe accounts

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCBD) — Attorney General Alan Wilson advised South Carolinians on Tuesday to delete their 23andMe accounts after the genetic testing company filed for bankruptcy.

The San Francisco-based company announced on March 23 that its founder and CEO was stepping down and it will look to sell “substantially all of its assets” through a court-approved reorganization plan, the Associated Press reported.

The announcement raised fears among privacy experts and others, who warned that the DNA data of millions of users could be sold.

“This company has sensitive information about the people who have used it,” Wilson said. “We don’t know what will happen to the company as part of any potential bankruptcy proceedings, but that personal data could be an asset that gets transferred or sold.”

Wilson recommended that all South Carolina users purge their accounts to protect their personal information.

Customers who wish to delete their accounts can submit an online request to the company.

Once an account is deleted, the company said genetic samples are discarded, and personal information is no longer used for future research projects.