Earlier this month, all of 23andMe’s independent directors resigned from the company’s board. Their resignations came about a month after the well-known DNA testing company shuttered its internal drug discovery group. In light of all the chaos, some security experts have begun urging users to consider closing their 23andMe accounts.
Citing an NPR article about 23andMe’s DNA data, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) director of cybersecurity Eva Galperin told her followers that now would be a good time to log in to their 23andMe accounts and request the deletion of their data.
Meredith Whittaker, president of encrypted messaging service Signal, said the same:
Unfortunately, as the company explains on its customer care site, deleting a 23andMe account and all of your DNA data isn’t as simple as clicking a single button.
If you want to close your account, the first step is to log in and visit your Account Settings. Scroll down to the 23andMe Data section near the bottom of the page, then click View. After you enter your birthday, you’ll be sent to a new page where you should see a massive red button that says Permanently Delete Data. Click that to officially submit your request.
You’re not done yet, as 23andMe will send an email to the email address linked to your account asking you to confirm the request. Once you confirm your request, 23andMe claims it will delete your data but that “it may take up to 30 days to fulfill your request.”
