23andme

[RoadKingLarry]

Which version... Lord of the Rings or Epic Rage Quit? 

Brad

 

[K Frame]

Which version... Lord of the Rings or Epic Rage Quit? 

Brad

I'm not sure that I get the epic rage quit reference...

[Brad Johnson]

Another revisit because I just had the entire thing blow wide open.

I've picked at my maternal side a bit, but nothing serious. There really wasn't much there past a couple of third and fourth cousins on Ancestry and 23&Me. What little backtracking I did always ended up at a great-great-grandparent and a few related tidbits all centered on Kansas City, MO. Nothing downstream of that, a giant information black hole. I pretty much blew it off as unattainable without a lot of time, effort, and/or money, none of which I've the desire to apply.

I've emailed a couple times with my bio brother. Mostly the adult medical histories I was initially searching for. Never asked for any more, and made sure it was perfectly clear I had no expectations beyond that. Just a few minutes ago, he emailed with my bio father's contact info, said contact was welcome, and that bio father knows where my bio mother is. Wow. Never in a million years would I have expected that info to literally fall into my lap.

Brad

[HeroHog]

Wow! Hope it all works out for you.

[Tuco]

Brad.
I'm trying to imagine the emotions that today's email would open up in a guy and coming up blank. After some.processing time I'd love to know where your head ends up.
Good luck!

[Brad Johnson]

Brad.
I'm trying to imagine the emotions that today's email would open up in a guy and coming up blank. After some.processing time I'd love to know where your head ends up.
Good luck!

Actually, I'm already there. I made up my mind early on that whatever happened it would be a slow, cautious process, and that it wasn't going to change anything other than being a source of information. I was blindsided by the unexpected influx of information, sure, but only in the sense of suddenly having way more information than I ever expected, both quantity and quality. Otherwise it hasn't changed my state of mind about, well, anything.

I know who my parents are, they raised me. I have a great family and a great life that I wouldn't change for anything. This is just new information which fills in biological lineage gaps. It's cool to know, and will certainly be fun and interesting to investigate further, but is not otherwise life-changing in any respect.

It helps that I've always known I was adopted. My parents made no effort to hide it, instead choosing to treat it as a special, positive aspect in every way. As a result, I don't have some overwhelming sense of loss, urgency, or desire relative to my biological lineage. I've also taken the whole contact thing very slow, being absolutely clear that I don't want this to be a source of strife or friction for their families, and that I have no expectations or plans beyond adult medical histories. I'll let it play out organically.

Brad

[Northwoods]

A friend was adopted along with his (non-biological) brother.  All he knows of his birth mother is that she was 14 when he was born, tried to keep him but the German government forced her to give him up for adoption.  I can only imagine the emotions that can accompany finding your biological family.  Whether from a loving and accepting adoptive family or not.

[Brad Johnson]

Bridge crossed.

Nice emails back and forth from birth father. We both acknowledged the awkwardness and are in agreement the best course is to simply treat the situation as "new acquaintances" and go from there. I was very open that I treat my adoption as a blessing and harbor no resentment or ill will. That seemed to put him at ease. We exchanged a few general bits of life and background info, but nothing of great or extended detail. All in all a pleasant experience thus far.

He gave me a bit of background on my birth situation, much of which confirmed what I suspected... two college lovebirds who fumbled their way into a pregnancy. They were going to marry, but her parents promptly shipped her off to a home for unwed mothers. Relationship ended after that.

He mentioned he has always been curious how I was doing, so this seemed a nice bookend for him, too. He also mentioned he took the time a few years ago to research my birth mother's whereabouts. No contact, but he did find her location and a few generalities about her life. That was the info previously mentioned. Since there's been no contact between them, I asked him not to tell me anything about her out of respect for her privacy. I did, however, tell him that if she ever made contact to ask about me, he was free to disclose my info.

Brad

[Brad Johnson]

Maternal lineage nailed down. An unexpected contact from a very distant cousin provided the key. He was just fleshing out data on third and fourth cousins, but his notes turned up a name I hadn't previously run across. The person's surname was familiar. I was able to cross-reference with more familiar names, backtracking into an obituary which connected all the dots. I'd developed several lineages from Ancestry and 23&Me hits but couldn't make them join. This tied them all together. Within minutes I had a promising identity. It was confirmed today.

As with my paternal family, I've no desire to initiate contact. No need to rock the boat unless they take the first step. Even if they do, I'll probably stay arms-length as her and her immediate family's social media is rife with ultra-lib sentiment and support. Not my thing.

An interesting aside, she and her husband live in small Colorado town just off a road SWMBO and I have traveled many times. I've been within five miles of her home on at least a dozen occasions.

Brad

[WLJ]

They got hacked

23andMe confirms hackers accessed data of 6.9 million users
https://www.foxbusiness.com/fox-news-tech/23andme-confirms-hackers-accessed-data-6-9-million-users

[Pb]

And... someone leaked the information of hundreds of thousands of users that have Jewish DNA:

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/23andme-user-data-targeting-ashkenazi-jews-leaked-online-rcna119324

Perhaps you should re-think the 23andme thing.

[230RN]

Good grief, people, think. Twice. If Orwell knew people would willingly put microphones and cameras in their homes, and send off dna samples to the feds, (and yes, they are going to the feds), he would have written "You fools deserve what is coming", rather than "1984".

 I would not be one bit surprised if the entire DNA "ancestry" BS was in fact a fed operation from the very start, part of the total information awareness program.

My two "boys" (they'e now both near 50) kept bugging me to do it --they had already done so, but what tokugawa noted was running through my head before even then.  They finally bought me a kit, so I felt obligated.  Came back with exactly what I had been told by my parents:   (Deleted European) background; and that my two sons were my issue.

The thing is, 23AndME kept importuning me to go further with more informational tidbits, each of which cost additional fees.  I mean, hardly a week went by that I didn't get two more e-mail "offers" from them.  No big deal, but it got kind of annoying so I relegated their e-mails to the trash bin.

So maybe I have two more cousins somewhere, so what?  Unless I can borrow money from one of them, who cares?

Besides, at 85 yo, establishing new filial relationships would be kinda pointless, no?

Terry, 230RN

EDITED TO ADD:  I deleted details of my background since paranoia prevails in terms of data mining by whomever.  Thanks for expressing that openly, tokugawa!

[K Frame]

This is my shocked face.

Yep, completely shocked that someone managed to hack their system.

I've not done, and will not do, one of these programs. The Chinese, Norks, Russians, etc., have more than enough of my information already, thank you very much.

[WLJ]

And... someone leaked the information of hundreds of thousands of users that have Jewish DNA:

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/23andme-user-data-targeting-ashkenazi-jews-leaked-online-rcna119324

Perhaps you should re-think the 23andme thing.

That story is from the morning of Oct 7th, same as the Hamas attacks, which means it was posted as the attacks were occurring. Interesting timing.

[230RN]

Wouldn't it be funny if some (or many) of those Hamas people showed that damned near universal Jewish DNA?  Maybe they should start requiring 23andMe testing to "out" their own impure members.

Tee-hee-giggle-giggle.

[Pb]

I don't know if it is true, but I read some years back that the Jews were most closely related to the Kurds.

[230RN]

Actually, I'm already there. I made up my mind early on that whatever happened it would be a slow, cautious process, and that it wasn't going to change anything other than being a source of information. I was blindsided by the unexpected influx of information, sure, but only in the sense of suddenly having way more information than I ever expected, both quantity and quality. Otherwise it hasn't changed my state of mind about, well, anything.

I know who my parents are, they raised me. I have a great family and a great life that I wouldn't change for anything. This is just new information which fills in biological lineage gaps. It's cool to know, and will certainly be fun and interesting to investigate further, but is not otherwise life-changing in any respect.

It helps that I've always known I was adopted. My parents made no effort to hide it, instead choosing to treat it as a special, positive aspect in every way. As a result, I don't have some overwhelming sense of loss, urgency, or desire relative to my biological lineage. I've also taken the whole contact thing very slow, being absolutely clear that I don't want this to be a source of strife or friction for their families, and that I have no expectations or plans beyond adult medical histories. I'll let it play out organically.

Brad

You sound like you've got your head on pretty straight.  Your parents done good.

Just a new adventure path if you choose to follow it.

Congratulations !

Terry, 230RN

[Angel Eyes]

Thread necro.

23andMe files for bankruptcy. 

https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/23andme-files-for-bankruptcy-6364508/

More than 15 million people have given the company DNA samples, which could be sold in bankruptcy proceedings. 23andMe — valued at $3.5 billion when it went public in 2021 — plans to continue operating.

So glad I never did business with them.

[HankB]

Thread necro.

23andMe files for bankruptcy. 

https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/23andme-files-for-bankruptcy-6364508/

So glad I never did business with them.

California (Yes, THAT California!) AG is aware and seems to be on top of this.   

https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-urgently-issues-consumer-alert-23andme-customers

He's urging customers to demand their data and any samples in 23andme custody to be deleted.

[Hawkmoon]

Thread necro.

23andMe files for bankruptcy. 

https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/23andme-files-for-bankruptcy-6364508/

So glad I never did business with them.

Amen, brother.

[K Frame]

Oh man, I'm betting the ownership of that data and those samples are going to be tied up in bankruptcy court for freaking YEARS.

[Hawkmoon]

California (Yes, THAT California!) AG is aware and seems to be on top of this.   

https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-urgently-issues-consumer-alert-23andme-customers

He's urging customers to demand their data and any samples in 23andme custody to be deleted.

I never thought I'd see the day when I agreed with Rob Bonta.

[Angel Eyes]

I never thought I'd see the day when I agreed with Rob Bonta.

I did see some pigs flying this morning.

[HankB]

I did see some pigs flying this morning.

And guess what just froze over . . .

[dogmush]

California (Yes, THAT California!) AG is aware and seems to be on top of this.   

https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-urgently-issues-consumer-alert-23andme-customers

He's urging customers to demand their data and any samples in 23andme custody to be deleted.

I suspect if you read the 23andme release and user agreement, those samples and that data are no longer the customers but belong to 23andme.

If that's the case, it's activly illegal to destroy assets prior to the bankruptcy hearing.

ETA:  Grok provides me this:

Who owns the samples and DNA data you submit to 23andme



When you submit a saliva sample and DNA data to 23andMe, the question of ownership is nuanced and governed by a combination of the company’s policies, user agreements, and applicable laws. Legally, you retain ownership of your physical saliva sample and the genetic information derived from it in a broad sense, but 23andMe’s Terms of Service and Privacy Statement grant the company significant rights to process, store, and potentially use that data under specific conditions.

According to 23andMe’s Privacy Statement, you are the owner of your genetic data, but by submitting your sample, you give 23andMe a perpetual, royalty-free license to use it for their services, including ancestry reports and health insights. This license allows them to analyze your DNA, store it, and, if you opt in, use it for research purposes. About 80% of customers consent to this research option, which permits 23andMe to share de-identified (anonymized) data with third parties, such as pharmaceutical companies like GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), with whom they’ve had partnerships. For example, in 2018, GSK invested $300 million in 23andMe and gained access to anonymized genetic data from consenting users for drug development, and in 2023, GSK paid an additional $20 million for further access.

Your physical saliva sample is processed by 23andMe’s contracted labs (e.g., in North Carolina or California), and you can choose whether it’s stored or destroyed after analysis. If stored, it remains in their biobank unless you request its destruction, though the company notes that any destruction request is irreversible. However, even if you delete your account or request sample destruction, 23andMe and its labs retain certain data—like your raw genetic information, date of birth, and sex—for up to 10 years to comply with federal regulations under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) and state laws, such as California’s laboratory regulations.

If 23andMe undergoes a sale, merger, or bankruptcy (a relevant concern given its financial struggles as of March 24, 2025), your data could be transferred as an asset. The Privacy Statement specifies that personal information, including genetic data, “may be accessed, sold, or transferred” in such transactions, subject to the existing privacy policy unless a new one is presented by the acquiring entity. Customers would need to be notified of material changes and given an opt-out option under applicable laws, but this doesn’t guarantee control over who ultimately holds the data. Some states, like California and Illinois, offer stronger protections—such as requiring consent before data transfer—under laws like the California Genetic Information Privacy Act, but federal law (e.g., HIPAA) doesn’t apply to direct-to-consumer companies like 23andMe, leaving gaps in oversight.

In practice, while you “own” your DNA conceptually, 23andMe’s legal agreements and operational needs mean they control its use, storage, and potential dissemination within the bounds you consent to. You can revoke consent, delete your account, or request sample destruction via your account settings (under “23andMe data” > “delete your data”), but residual data may persist due to legal or research commitments. This balance reflects a trade-off: you get personalized insights, but 23andMe leverages your data as a core part of its business model.