Earlier this month, all of 23andMe’s independent directors resigned from the company’s board. Their resignations came about a month after the well-known DNA testing company shuttered its internal drug discovery group. In light of all the chaos, some security experts have begun urging users to consider closing their 23andMe accounts.
Citing an NPR article about 23andMe’s DNA data, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) director of cybersecurity Eva Galperin told her followers that now would be a good time to log in to their 23andMe accounts and request the deletion of their data.
Meredith Whittaker, president of encrypted messaging service Signal, said the same:
It’s not just you. If anyone in your FAMILY gave their DNA to 23&me, for all of your sakes, close your/their account now. This won’t solve the issue, but they will (they claim) delete some of your data. And in the future avoid consumer DNA testing.https://t.co/6A1GuqvXGr
— Meredith Whittaker (@mer__edith) October 4, 2024
Unfortunately, as the company explains on its customer care site, deleting a 23andMe account and all of your DNA data isn’t as simple as clicking a single button.
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If you want to close your account, the first step is to log in and visit your Account Settings. Scroll down to the 23andMe Data section near the bottom of the page, then click View. After you enter your birthday, you’ll be sent to a new page where you should see a massive red button that says Permanently Delete Data. Click that to officially submit your request.
You’re not done yet, as 23andMe will send an email to the email address linked to your account asking you to confirm the request. Once you confirm your request, 23andMe claims it will delete your data but that “it may take up to 30 days to fulfill your request.”
The post How to delete your 23andMe DNA data now that the company is in trouble appeared first on BGR.
