Thursday, October 1, 2026
Last week, 27 states, including New York, filed a lawsuit to stop what never should have been possible in the first place: the auctioning off of Americans’ genetic data.
The defendant? The biotechnology firm 23andMe, which once promised to unlock our ancestral and medical secrets from mailed-in saliva samples. Today the company is bankrupt and purportedly trying to sell our DNA to the highest bidder. And unless we act, it might get away with it. That’s why I promptly introduced the Genetic Privacy and Protection Act, Assembly Bill A.7559, a first-in-the-nation bill to make sure that New Yorkers’ most intimate personal information can never be treated like furniture in a liquidation sale.
23andMe holds the biological data of more than 15 million people. That includes health histories, inherited traits and unique DNA sequences — data that could be used for research, targeted advertising or, worse, surveillance by foreign adversaries. When 23andMe filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March, it signaled that such information could be transferred or sold. That triggered widespread panic among customers, some of whom found themselves unable to delete their accounts.
Our New York state attorney general, Letitia James, said it best: “New Yorkers … trusted 23andMe with their private information, and they have a right to know what will be done with their information.” She’s right. That trust was earned through promises of privacy, but it is being broken in the courtroom.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has already offered to acquire 23andMe. While Regeneron has said it would abide by the company’s privacy policies and applicable laws, that’s hardly reassuring — because right now, there is no law preventing genetic data from being sold off like spare parts if a company like 23andMe fails.
That’s the problem. And that’s what my bill would fix.
My proposed Genetic Privacy and Protection Act would:
Ban the sale, transfer or continued use of consumer genetic data when a company enters bankruptcy or financial distress;
Require companies to permanently delete genetic data upon dissolution;
Impose meaningful penalties for any violations.
It’s simple: Our DNA is not for sale. Not now, not ever — and especially not without our fully informed and explicit consent.
This crisis has exposed the loopholes in federal protections. Genetic testing firms like 23andMe operate outside the reach of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, and traditional health privacy laws. That means it’s up to us — state lawmakers — to step in.
And we must act before another company goes under, taking millions of genetic identities down with it.
As the ranking member of the Assembly Science and Technology Committee and a member of the Consumer Affairs and Protection Committee, I know this is more than a privacy issue. It’s a national security issue. It’s a data integrity issue. And most important, it’s a human dignity issue.
New York must not wait for the courts to determine whether our most personal data can be up for grabs. We must legislate clearly and decisively to say: Your genetic information belongs to you, and no bankruptcy judge, biotech firm or private equity buyer has the right to override that truth.
Let’s lead the nation. Let’s pass the Genetic Privacy and Protection Act before it’s too late.
Jake Blumencranz represents the 15th Assembly District.
