“Good Morning America” anchor Whit Johnson revealed that his 23andMe take a look at was a “lacking hyperlink” that led to a “bombshell” discovery for his household after the corporate filed for chapter — sparking issues concerning the private information of its tens of millions 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 positioning, 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 take a look at was that lacking hyperlink,” Johnson mentioned in an interview along with his dad through the section.
Over time, his household continued to make use of 23andMe to seek for misplaced kin and have been shocked to search out his dad had extra siblings.
“That discovery led to a different brother and a attainable sister on my grandmother’s facet, and two extra brothers on my grandfather’s facet,” Johnson mentioned.
Nonetheless, when the corporate filed for Chapter 11 safety final week, the private information of its greater than 15 million prospects may probably be bought — prompting many customers to delete your entire historical past they discovered by the positioning.
Johnson mentioned he’s amongst those that selected to wipe his information, however his dad mentioned he received’t.
Steve mentioned his 23andMe expertise helped “spherical out” a lot of his questions on his life, however he understood why individuals would need their information deleted.
“it does make me unhappy as a result of it implies that lots of people who may have the expertise I had received’t have it, as a result of individuals simply received’t join these items,” Steve mentioned.
After sharing his story on “Good Morning America,” Johnson mentioned his determination to delete his information was concerning the “piece of thoughts.”
“Once more, that is very private. Everybody ought to contemplate what’s proper for them,” he mentioned.
For greater than a decade, 23andMe has been synonymous with at-home genetic testing, offering tens of millions of shoppers with a variety of non-public well being and ancestry information.
Customers would supply a saliva pattern and mail it again to the Silicon Valley-based firm for detailed laboratory evaluation, costing round $200.
Nonetheless, in recent times, the agency has confronted mounting strain from traders and regulators and authorized troubles stemming from an enormous information breach in 2023 that compromised the private info of almost 7 million customers.
The corporate’s submitting for chapter has reignited issues about its buyer’s information.
California Legal professional Normal Rob Bonta urged prospects of the distressed firm to delete their information from 23andMe’s database as information of the submitting broke.
Below California’s Genetic Info Privateness Act, corporations should acquire specific consent earlier than gathering, utilizing, and disclosing genetic information.
The 2022 regulation additionally ensures customers the best to entry or delete their information at will.
Nonetheless, federal protections at present present restricted assist to customers who’ve given their genetic information to non-public corporations like 23andMe.
23andMe co-founder and CEO Anne Wojcicki introduced her resignation on X and revealed plans to grow to be an impartial 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 information.
