“Good Morning America” anchor Whit Johnson revealed that his 23andMe take a look at was a “missing link” that led to a “bombshell” discovery for his household after the corporate filed for chapter — sparking issues in regards to the private knowledge of its hundreds of thousands of shoppers.
Johnson, 42, shared on air over the weekend that he used the DNA testing service in 2014 and stumbled upon a staggering discovery.
His father, Steve, was adopted — one thing nobody in his household, together with his dad, was conscious of.
Because the information anchor did additional analysis on the location, he found one other household “bombshell.”
He had an unknown relative intently linked to his household tree: his father’s long-lost organic brother “Bear.”
“My DNA test was that missing link,” Johnson mentioned in an interview together with his dad in the course of the phase.
Through the years, his household continued to make use of 23andMe to seek for misplaced kinfolk and had been shocked to seek out his dad had extra siblings.
“That discovery led to another brother and a possible sister on my grandmother’s side, and two more brothers on my grandfather’s side,” Johnson mentioned.
Nevertheless, when the corporate filed for Chapter 11 safety final week, the private knowledge of its greater than 15 million prospects might probably be offered — prompting many customers to delete your entire historical past they discovered by means of the location.
Johnson mentioned he’s amongst those that selected to wipe his knowledge, however his dad mentioned he gained’t.
Steve mentioned his 23andMe expertise helped “round out” a lot of his questions on his life, however he understood why folks would need their knowledge deleted.
“it does make me sad because it means that a lot of people who could have the experience I had won’t have it, because people just won’t sign up for this stuff,” Steve mentioned.
After sharing his story on “Good Morning America,” Johnson mentioned his resolution to delete his knowledge was in regards to the “piece of mind.”
“Again, this is very personal. Everyone should consider what’s right for them,” he mentioned.
For greater than a decade, 23andMe has been synonymous with at-home genetic testing, offering hundreds of thousands of shoppers with a variety of private well being and ancestry knowledge.
Customers would offer a saliva pattern and mail it again to the Silicon Valley-based firm for detailed laboratory evaluation, costing round $200.
Nevertheless, lately, the agency has confronted mounting stress from traders and regulators and authorized troubles stemming from a large knowledge breach in 2023 that compromised the private data of almost 7 million customers.
The corporate’s submitting for chapter has reignited issues about its buyer’s knowledge.
California Lawyer Basic Rob Bonta urged prospects of the distressed firm to delete their knowledge from 23andMe’s database as information of the submitting broke.
Underneath California’s Genetic Data Privateness Act, firms should acquire express consent earlier than amassing, utilizing, and disclosing genetic knowledge.
The 2022 legislation additionally ensures shoppers the suitable to entry or delete their knowledge at will.
Nevertheless, federal protections presently present restricted assist to shoppers who’ve given their genetic knowledge to non-public firms like 23andMe.
23andMe co-founder and CEO Anne Wojcicki introduced her resignation on X and revealed plans to turn out to be an unbiased bidder for the corporate she helped construct.
Wojcicki, a Yale-trained biologist and former healthcare analyst, co-founded 23andMe in 2006 with the imaginative and prescient of giving people direct entry to their genetic knowledge.
