Privacy officials for Canada and the United Kingdom are set to speak Tuesday about the findings of a joint investigation into a global data breach that occurred nearly two years ago at the direct-to-consumer genetic testing company 23andMe.
Canadian privacy commissioner Philippe Dufresne and British information commissioner John Edwards launched the joint investigation in June 2024.
The two offices are expected to release their findings at 9:45 a.m. eastern on Tuesday.
The investigation was to examine the scope of information exposed by the breach that occurred in October 2023 and the potential harm it posed to individuals, whether 23andMe had adequate safeguards to protect the highly sensitive information it had, and whether it provided adequate notification of the breach to both their offices and affected individuals.
“In the wrong hands, an individual’s genetic information could be misused for surveillance and discrimination,” Dufresne said in a statement when the investigation was launched.
The company settled a lawsuit late last year that accused 23andMe of failing to protect the privacy of 6.9 million customers whose personal information was exposed in the breach. The company was ordered to pay US$30 million and provide three years of security monitoring.
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In the months since the breach, the company has faced numerous issues, including seeing its value in public listings drop by more than 97 per cent and its seven independent directors resigning last September amid news the original founder was planning to take the company private once more.
The company has never made a profit and filed for bankruptcy in March, seeking to sell its business at auction after a decline in demand and the 2023 data breach.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals last month agreed to buy the company for US$256 million, but on Monday declined to submit a new bid for the company after 23andMe co-founder Anne Wojcicki beat its offer, putting forward US$305 million from the non-profit she controls.
The bid from Wojcicki is expected to close in the coming weeks after a court hearing scheduled for Tuesday, according to her non-profit TTAM Research Institute. The non-profit said it would uphold 23andMe’s existing privacy policies and comply with all applicable data protection laws.
— with files from Reuters
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