Last week, a 23andMe co-founder, Linda Avey, blasted the company's leadership. "Without continued consumer-focused product development, and without governance, 23andMe lost its way, and society missed a key opportunity in furthering the idea of personalized health," Avey wrote in a social media post. "There are many cautionary tales buried in the 23andMe story," Avey said.
The bankruptcy itself is the issue that is now hard for consumers to ignore, and until the sale process is completed, the questions will remain.
"When you're in bankruptcy, data privacy values are not what you're really thinking about. You're thinking about selling your company to the highest bidder," Hu said. That highest bidder, Hu says might take the genetic data and consumer profile data and link them together when selling it to others.