Cybersecurity Policy Report, Appeals Court Rejects California AG’s Genetic Privacy Plea as 23andMe Completes Bankruptcy Sale, (Jul 14, 2025)
23andMe Holding Co. has completed the transfer of the bulk of its assets, including the genetic data collected by the company, to TTAM Research Institute, the companies announced today.
“As part of TTAM, 23andMe is continuing to operate and provide customers with personalized DNA testing and research services. TTAM is committed to providing customers with choice and transparency with their data, including the option to change their decision on whether to participate in research,” the companies said in a news release.
The transaction was officially completed on Friday, according to a notice filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.
But on Friday and over the weekend, California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D.) continued to try to block the transfer of Californians’ genetic data, which he said would violate the state’s Genetic Information Privacy Act (GIPA).
After the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri denied AG Bonta’s request for a stay that would block the transfer of Californians’ genetic data (CPR, July 11), he appealed unsuccessfully to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (St. Louis).
“Genetic information, derived from human DNA, is among the most—if not most—highly sensitive personal data that an individual has,” he told the appeals court in his stay request (People of State of California v. 23andMe Holding Co., No. 25-2361 (8th Cir. July 10, 2025)).
“In GIPA, California sought to protect and empower its residents by imposing transfer and disclosure restrictions on this highly sensitive information. Specifically, GIPA requires that genetic-testing companies, like 23andMe, first get affected consumers’ ‘separate and express consent’ before ‘each transfer or disclosure of the consumer's genetic data or biological sample to a third party,’” he noted.
“Debtors have refused to obtain ‘separate and express consent’ required by GIPA because doing so would be too costly,” he added. “The Bankruptcy Court and District Court abused their discretion in denying the People a temporary stay pending appeal limited to the genetic data and biological samples of Californians.”
The appeals court, however, denied AG Bonta’s request in a brief order that didn’t offer the court’s reasoning. Attorneys for 23andMe and TTAM said any requests for stays to block the transfer of genetic data or otherwise derail the transaction were now moot, given that the sale has been consummated.
Under the sale approved by the bankruptcy court last month, TTAM, a non-profit established by Anne Wojcicki, 23andMe’s co-founder and former chief executive officer, paid $305 million for 23andMe’s personal genome service, research service, and Lemonaid telehealth business (CPR, June 30).
Terms of the sale require TTAM to abide by the commitments it made to protect the privacy of 23andMe’s customers, including seeking consent from each former and current customer before accessing the genetic data they submitted to 23andMe.
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