Cybersecurity Policy Report, Comer Seeks Testimony From 23andMe’s Founder About Fate of Genetic Data, (Apr 16, 2025)
The co-founder of 23andMe Holding Co. has been asked to appear before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to testify about how 23andMe will protect its customers’ genetic data as the company proceeds through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding.
Rep. James Comer (R., Ky.), the committee’s chairman, requested the testimony of Anne Wojcicki, the company’s co-founder and former chief executive officer, in a letter yesterday.
Ms. Wojcicki resigned as 23andMe’s CEO in March shortly after the company filed for bankruptcy in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. The bankruptcy has generated concerns about what will happen to the genetic data of the company’s millions of customers (CPR, March 31).
Rep. Comer asked her to produce documents “addressing 23andMe’s sale, potential sale, transfer, or potential transfer of users’ data and genetic information” and appear at a May 6 hearing.
The bankruptcy “raises significant concerns regarding potential transfers of customers’ and family members’ sensitive personal data to various interested entities, including the Chinese Communist Party (CCP),” Rep. Comer said.
He noted that 23andMe’s financial backers included at least one firm with ties to the CCP, and he cited reports that the CCP had a “track record of misusing genetic data.”
“Potential harm for consumers from the transfer of genetic data amid the bankruptcy of 23andMe does not come solely from hostile foreign actors. Disclosure of individuals’ genetic data could also be analyzed and used for assessing higher insurance premiums, restrictions on credit extensions by financial institutions, and targeted advertising based on predisposition to specific medical conditions,” Rep. Comer added.
He said the committee would like to know what “steps 23andMe is taking to ensure Americans’ genetic data is safeguarded from malign foreign actors and other potential harms.”
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