Pennsylvania and 26 other states are jointly suing to block 23andMe from selling personal genetic data without consumer consent as part of its pending sale to a biotechnology company.
The lawsuit, filed Monday, aims to prevent 23andMe from auctioning off private data from 15 million people in bankruptcy court. The states and the District of Columbia, which also joined the suit, allege that the biological samples, DNA data and medical records collected by 23andMe are too sensitive to be sold without consumer consent.
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23andMe, founded in 2006, helps people learn about their ancestries and find relatives by using saliva-based DNA testing kits. The company went public in 2021, and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March. In May, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals said it planned to buy the company for $256 million and comply with 23andMe's consumer privacy policies and applicable laws.
But given the highly sensitive nature of the data collected by 23andMe, the lawsuit argues this information can't be sold like ordinary property and requires consent from each person who sent their information to the company.
"If the buyers are unwilling to provide such consent, it is possible that the information will be unable to be sold," Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield's office wrote in a press release. "In either case, the states will be helping ensure that people's genetic data isn't misused, exposed in future data breaches or used in ways customers never contemplated when they signed up to have their DNA analyzed."
A court-appointed independent review will determine the future of the sale and how it might impact the consumer privacy.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday did not immediately return a request for comment on the 23andMe lawsuit. However, in May, his office encouraged consumers to consider deleting their accounts due to the potential sale in order to protect their privacy.
The other states in the lawsuit are Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.