23andMe Agrees to Appointment of Privacy Ombudsman in Bankruptcy Sale

The company and the U.S. Trustee Office engaged in negotiations with “governmental parties” and the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors on the resolution, the court said. Dozens of attorneys general from red and blue states urged the court to appoint a consumer privacy ombudsman after 23andMe filed a motion to appoint its own “customer data representative.”

Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Todd Young, R-Ind., in a letter Monday, asked DOJ and the FTC “to exercise all available authorities to protect the sensitive genomic information of Americans” in the bankruptcy. They cited threats from China and other foreign adversaries that collect genomic data for surveillance purposes. The agencies “must closely monitor the sale or transfer of, or access to, 23andMe's genomic databank, regardless of whether that activity is in the ordinary course of business, for compliance with all applicable statutes related to national security and consumer protection,” they said.