Senator warns China could obtain Americans’ genetic data through 23andMe sale

Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy on Tuesday sent Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent a letter raising alarms about the possibility that genetic data belonging to more than 15 million 23andMe customers could end up in the hands of China and other foreign adversaries when the company is sold.

Chinese companies are already attempting to gather Americans’ genetic data, said Cassidy, a physician who represents Louisiana.

23andMe filed for bankruptcy last month and has said it views its genetic data as an asset in the sale. A court has given the company permission to sell its genetic database, Cassidy acknowledged in a separate letter to 23andMe.

The Department of Treasury has broad authority to oversee transactions that could harm U.S. national security and should use its Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) mechanism to stop foreign adversaries from accessing the genetic data, Cassidy told Bessent in the letter.

Cassidy, who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, highlighted that 23andMe has yet to publicize a plan for how it will guarantee its trove of genetic data is not obtained by a foreign adversary or otherwise abused.

Consumers have reported that the firm has not confirmed their deletion requests or have said the website has not worked when they have tried to submit their requests, according to Cassidy’s letter to 23andMe, which demanded the firm answer a series of questions explaining its plans for protecting consumer data.

The genetic testing company has resisted appointing a neutral third party to ensure that any sale includes terms which appropriately safeguard consumer privacy, Cassidy said. 

He called such an appointment a “common practice” in bankruptcy proceedings involving the need to protect consumer data.

“We have already seen cases where foreign adversaries such as China have sought to exploit U.S. laws to acquire information that could be used against specific individuals and our national interests,” Cassidy said in the letter to Bessent.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on March 31 appealed to the Justice Department to ensure any 23andMe buyer follows the company’s current privacy policies.

The company’s policy limits how the genetic data it stores can be used, FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson told DOJ bankruptcy regulators. He asked them to review any deal closely, highlighting that 23andMe’s privacy statement asserts that if the firm is transferred or sold “this privacy statement will apply to your personal information as transferred to the new entity.”