23Andme files on bankruptcy protection

The popular DNA test company 23Andme has applied for bankruptcy protection and announced that his co-founder and CEO, Anne Wojcicki, resigned with immediate effect.

The company will now try to sell themselves under the supervision of a court.

23andme said in a press release That it continues to work during the entire sales process and that “there are no changes in the way the company stores, manages or protects customer data”.

On Friday, the Attorney General published a consumer alarm in 23andmes home state of California in which they advise the customer to delete their data from the website in view of the “registered financial hardship”.

23Andmes in saliva -based test kits were once celebrated among customers and investors who contributed to increasing the value of the company up to USD 6 billion (4.6 billion GBP).

But it was fight for survival.

The company, founded in 2006, was brought to the stock exchange in 2021, but never made a win.

In September, the company received a lawsuit in which it was claimed that it did not protect the privacy of almost seven million customers whose personal data was exposed to a data violation of 2023.

In some cases, hackers received access to family trees, years of birth and geographical locations by using the old passwords of the customers. According to the company, the stolen data did not contain any DNA records.

Two months after the settlement, it Cut 200 employeesin the amount of 40% of his workforce.

23Andme said, his head of finance, Joe Selsavage, would take over the Interim Chief Executive.

Ms. Wojcicki will continue to act as a board member.

She had tried to take the company privately, but was not open to taking third providers.

23Andme – The once top -class notes from Oprah Winfrey, Eva Longoria and Snoop Dogg tried to redefine his business model.

Customers didn’t have to return much as soon as they had paid a DNA report, and an attempt to start a subscription service proved to be unsuccessful.

The efforts to use its massive data support in order to get into the pharmaceutical development also stalled.

All directors of the company, with the exception of Ms. Wojcicki resigned Last summer said in a letter that they had stopped after not receiving a satisfactory buyout offer from her.

In his declaration on Sunday, Mark Jensen, CEO of 23Andme, said the company “is obliged to continue to protect the customer data and be transparent in the future”.

He said it was “an important consideration in every potential transaction”.

However, this may not relieve the concerns of some users about what happens to the DNA that they have shared with the company.

In the UK, it is considered special category data according to data protection laws.

This offers legal protection when a company takes the bust or changes the owner.

When a DNA test company called Atlas Biomed hired the trade last year, Some customers had more questions than answers About what it meant to them.

Prof. Carissa Veliz – author of Privacy is Power – has previously announced the BBC that it is probably the most valuable personal data you have.

“If you have given your data to 23Andme, you also gave your parents’ genetic data, your siblings, your children and even the distant relatives who did not agree,” she said.