The bankruptcy of the genetic testing company 23andMe has raised a number of issues, but one specifically prudent issue is the lack of legislation preventing the sale of customers’ data due to financial exigencies. Speaking with the Illinois News Bureau, Professor Sara Gerke explained why this issue is significant. “Companies like 23andMe are sitting on a massive treasure trove of personal information because when people initially signed up, they thought, ‘Well, I’m getting something out of this transaction’ without thinking about the possibility that the company would ever go bankrupt at some point in the future and potentially offload their dataset,” she said. “That’s just one example, but we are in a world awash in big data, and it’s not a problem that’s limited to 23andMe.”
