23andMe Users Should Delete Data, Tech Columnist Geoffrey Fowler Explains Danger

Anyone who shared their DNA with 23andMe needs to delete their data from the genetic information service before the company is sold to the highest bidder … so says a tech columnist sounding the alarm on future consequences.

Geoffrey Fowler, who writes about technology in the Washington Post after a long career at the Wall Street Journal, joined us on “TMZ Live” and we asked him what’s the big deal with the 23andMe bankruptcy.

The company is going under and is heading to court to sell its assets … and Geoffrey warns there’s a risk people’s DNA data could be sold or transferred somewhere else.

While it doesn’t sound like much, Geoffrey explains why your DNA tells a lot about you … and why your sensitive data — like your family tree and your birth year — could come back to haunt you.

The main issue here is health insurance … Geoffrey says our DNA holds information that can be used to predict our health outcomes, which would be valuable to insurers potentially looking to charge folks different rates based on their DNA.

Plus, as Geoffrey explains, there may be more implications in the future as technology advances … and we don’t know all the uses for DNA right now, good or bad.

The good news … Geoffrey says folks can log onto 23andMe to delete their data before it ends up somewhere else … or, at least, that’s how it’s supposed to work in theory.