23andMe Expects Sale to Former CEO Will Close in ‘Coming Weeks’
Expect 23andMe to close its $305 million sale to former CEO Anne Wojcicki and her nonprofit in the “coming weeks,” the company announced Friday.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Privacy Daily provides accurate coverage of newsworthy developments in data protection legislation, regulation, litigation, and enforcement for privacy professionals responsible for ensuring effective organizational data privacy compliance.
Wojcicki and the TTAM Research Institute stated a commitment to honoring 23andMe’s existing privacy policy and all applicable laws. TTAM said it will adopt additional data privacy protections, including a privacy advisory board and an annual report to state attorneys general.
State attorneys general and members of Congress continue to pressure the company over honoring original data privacy and consent agreements with consumers. A court hearing on approval of the sale is scheduled for Tuesday. TTAM outbid Regeneron, which initially offered to purchase 23andMe for $256 million in May (see 2505190047). Regeneron remains a backup bidder, should the TTAM sale fail.
A bipartisan group of nearly 30 state attorneys general on June 9 sued to block the sale (see 2506100051), objecting to 23andMe auctioning private genetic data “without customers’ knowledge or consent.”
Several other states, including Texas, Tennessee and Indiana, have engaged in the bankruptcy proceeding. Indiana Deputy Attorney General Heather Crockett, in a filing Thursday, reminded potential buyers they must comply with the Indiana Deceptive Consumer Sales Act, which includes information security and privacy requirements. Crockett cited several internal 23andMe documents stating consumers can withdraw their consent and opt out of 23andMe research activities.
Fred Bingham, a privacy attorney at Skydance, on Friday highlighted several details from the court-appointed Consumer Privacy Ombudsman’s report about the proposed sale, including that the CPO was unwilling to conclude the sale complies with non-bankruptcy laws like state genetic privacy statutes and laws regulating unfair or deceptive acts or practices (UDAP). The CPO also can’t conclude the proposed sale “complies with 23andMe’s own privacy policies -- especially for accounts created before June 2022, when language about bankruptcy was added to its privacy statement.”
Texas filed a complaint Tuesday alleging 23andMe would violate state law if it moves consumer data without obtaining specific consent. Alaska on Wednesday joined a California complaint, citing violations of state laws (see 2506110047).
Reps. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., led a group of House Democrats in sending a letter to TTAM and Regeneron on Thursday that seeks “assurances that your company will adopt the broadest possible interpretation of previous policies and continue to put new safeguards in place.”
Wojcicki, in a statement Friday, said the company believes it’s “critical that individuals are empowered to have choice and transparency with respect to their genetic data and have the opportunity to continue to learn about their ancestry and health risks as they wish. The 23andMe community of consented individuals will also have the opportunity to be part of making novel genetic discoveries that improve our knowledge of DNA -- the code of life -- and the health and wellness of everyone.”