{"id":1590,"date":"2025-03-26T17:39:02","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T17:39:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tsfactory.com\/forums\/?p=1590"},"modified":"2025-03-26T17:39:02","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T17:39:02","slug":"how-to-delete-your-23andme-data","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tsfactory.com\/forums\/blog\/how-to-delete-your-23andme-data\/","title":{"rendered":"How to\u2026 delete your 23andMe data"},"content":{"rendered":"
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MIT Technology Review’s\u00a0How To<\/a>\u00a0series helps you get things done.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Things aren\u2019t looking good for 23andMe. The consumer DNA testing company recently parted ways with all its board members but CEO Anne Wojcicki over her plans to take the company private. It\u2019s also still dealing with the fallout of a major security breach last October, which saw hackers access the personal data of around 5.5 million customers.<\/p>\n

23andMe\u2019s business is built on taking saliva samples from its customers. The DNA from those samples is processed and analyzed in its labs to produce personalized genetic reports detailing a user\u2019s unique health and ancestry. The uncertainty swirling around the company\u2019s future and potential new ownership\u00a0 has prompted privacy campaigners to urge users to delete their data.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s not just you. If anyone in your family gave their DNA to 23&Me, for all of your sakes, close your\/their account now,\u201d Meredith Whittaker, president of the encrypted messaging platform Signal, posted on\u00a0X<\/a>\u00a0after the board\u2019s resignation.<\/p>\n

“Customers should consider current threats to their privacy as well as threats that may exist in the future\u2014some of which may be magnified if 23AndMe were sold to a new owner,” says Jason Kelley, activism director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. “23AndMe has protections around this much of this. But a potential sale could put your data in the hands of a far less scrupulous company.”<\/p>\n

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A spokesperson for 23andMe said that the company has strong customer privacy protections in place, and does not share customer data with third parties without customers\u2019 consent. “Our research program is opt-in, requiring customers to go through a separate, informed consent process before joining,” they say. \u201cWe are committed to protecting customer data and are consistently focused on maintaining the privacy of our customers. That will not change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why deleting your account comes with a caveat<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Deleting your data from 23andMe is permanent and cannot be reversed. But some of that data will be retained to comply with the company\u2019s legal obligations, according to its\u00a0privacy statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That means 23andMe and its third-party genotyping laboratory will hang onto some of your genetic information, plus your date of birth and sex\u2014alongside data linked to your account deletion request, including your email address and deletion request identifier. When MIT Technology Review asked 23andMe about the nature of the genetic information it retains, it referred us to its\u00a0privacy policy<\/a>\u00a0but didn’t provide any other details.<\/p>\n

Any information you\u2019ve previously provided and consented to being used in 23andMe research projects also cannot be removed from ongoing or completed studies, although it will not be used in any future ones.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Beyond the laboratories that process the saliva samples, the company does not share customer information with anyone else unless the user has given permission for it to do so, the spokesperson says, including employers, insurance companies, law enforcement agencies, or any public databases.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe treat law enforcement inquiries, such as a valid subpoena or court order, with the utmost seriousness. We use all legal measures to resist any and all requests in order to protect our customer’s privacy,\u201d the spokesperson says. \u201cTo date, we have successfully challenged these requests and have not released any information to law enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n

For those who still want their data deleted, here\u2019s how you go about it.<\/p>\n

How to delete your data from 23andMe<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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  1. Log into your account and navigate to\u00a0Settings<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
  2. Under\u00a0Settings<\/strong>, scroll to the section titled\u00a023andMe data<\/strong>. Select\u00a0View<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
  3. You may be asked to enter your date of birth for extra security.<\/li>\n
  4. In the next section, you\u2019ll be asked which, if any, personal data you\u2019d like to download from the company (onto a personal, not public, computer). Once you\u2019re finished, scroll to the bottom and select\u00a0Permanently delete data<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
  5. You should then receive an email from 23andMe detailing its account deletion policy and requesting that you confirm your request. Once you confirm you\u2019d like your data to be deleted, the deletion will begin automatically and you\u2019ll immediately lose access to your account.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    What about your genetic sample?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    When you set up your 23andMe account, you\u2019re given the option either to have your saliva sample securely destroyed or to have it stored for future testing. If you\u2019ve previously opted to store your sample but now want to delete your 23andMe account, the company says, it will destroy the sample for you as part of the account deletion process.<\/p>\n

    Read the Full Story Here<\/a><\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    Source: MIT Technology Review<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    MIT Technology Review’s\u00a0How To\u00a0series helps you get things done.\u00a0 Things aren\u2019t looking good for 23andMe. The consumer DNA testing company recently parted ways with all its board members but CEO Anne Wojcicki over her plans to take the company private. It\u2019s also still dealing with the fallout of a major security breach last October, which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1591,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to\u2026 delete your 23andMe data - Community<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tsfactory.com\/forums\/blog\/how-to-delete-your-23andme-data\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to\u2026 delete your 23andMe data - Community\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"MIT Technology Review’s\u00a0How To\u00a0series helps you get things done.\u00a0 Things aren\u2019t looking good for 23andMe. 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