U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has been urged by Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chair Bill Cassidy, R-La., to activate its Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. to thwart China and other nation-state adversaries from obtaining over 15 million Americans' genetic data upon the sale of embattled DNA testing services company 23andMe, according to The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.
Despite Chinese companies' ongoing efforts to procure such information, 23andMe has neither detailed plans on how it would protect its customers' data nor established a third party that would guarantee consumer privacy safeguards in the sale, said Cassidy in a letter to Bessent. "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," wrote Cassidy. Such a development comes after the Justice Department's bankruptcy regulators were sought by the Federal Trade Commission to ensure potential 23andMe buyers' adherence to the firm's privacy policies.
Despite Chinese companies' ongoing efforts to procure such information, 23andMe has neither detailed plans on how it would protect its customers' data nor established a third party that would guarantee consumer privacy safeguards in the sale, said Cassidy in a letter to Bessent. "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," wrote Cassidy. Such a development comes after the Justice Department's bankruptcy regulators were sought by the Federal Trade Commission to ensure potential 23andMe buyers' adherence to the firm's privacy policies.
