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23andMe files for bankruptcy to sell itself

reuters.com

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Re: 23andMe files for bankruptcy to sell itself

#371

Post by genewitch »

jajko wrote: post #295
genewitch wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is this done in practice? Do you all just do backups different? What percentage of deleted data still exists, obfuscated as user1029387 in the tables? With "deleted" boolean column obviously set to true. The very idea that it's possible to delete all your data from any service not running everything on tmpfs is funny to me.

Its not even funny, its just dangerously naïve, on hacker news from all. I can bet half of my salary that absolutely none of those records are deleted forever, and even anonymization is probably very soft and reversible, if done at all. I work at a bank, one of major ones. We have various regulations stating to keep client records for 5 years. We have trainings that specifically say that we shouldn't keep client reco…

someone elsewhere mentioned they use a key (encryption key) per user and just change the key, but A) i don't buy that, how do you prove you deleted a key? and if the user maintains the key and can revoke both their and the service's access to their data, lots of users will do this accidentally. Look at, say, matrix from a few years back, it'd constantly hose your keys and you'd have to attempt to restore from a backup key, but not that key, that's the first key - and apparently you accidentally clicked "backup key" again at some point and now all your stuff is that new key, even though you didn't specify you wanted a new key, you just clicked "back up key" to see what it did.

Also i "permanently" deleted a facebook account 2 years ago, and through a quirk on a cellphone facebook immediately brought the account back like it had never been deleted. I issued another "permanent delete" for that account a week ago, but i bet dollars to doughnuts in 5 weeks i will still be able to "oops i forgot my password, send me an SMS" will reactivate the account again.

If facebook can't or won't do it, i don't really think anyone handles this correctly.

Except people like me that store everything that users upload in tmpfs, and whenever i feel like it, i bounce the box. Good luck recovering any PII from that system. Unfortunately it doesn't have access control (there is no access to the system - that is, ssh, login, shell, whatever - from outside.), so i can't claim hipaa compliance. That and it doesn't log, so after a bounce i can't even verify who did what.

Most users won't stand for this kind of thing, but the users that can, depend on my random reboots if they forget a delete key (usually reloading the tab will "forget" the delete key.)

Re: 23andMe files for bankruptcy to sell itself

#372

Post by sebastiennight »

kimos wrote: post #223
Spacecosmonaut wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a genetic engineer at a large pharma company. Genetic engineering of human model systems is my specialty. If I were a malicious actor, I could not do anything useful with the genome of any one person. Most peoples genomes are boring and at best sway the predisposition for disease by a modest degree. Exposing infidelity is honestly the best I can come up with.

Thank you for saying this. I’ve done some of these saliva samples and I’ve seen the freak outs about what happens if “they” get my genome. But I cannot for the life of me figure out what they would do with it maliciously? It’s not like it can be used to sign up for a credit card or whatever.

Without spoilers, there's an entire chapter of the Three-Body Problem revolving around what can happen if you're a sufficiently high-value target whose genome has leaked.

The outcome for this person is not great :-)

Re: 23andMe files for bankruptcy to sell itself

#373

Post by lotsofpulp »

ceejayoz wrote: post #244
lotsofpulp wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the US, they wouldn’t be allowed to use that data to underwrite policies: https://www.healthcare.gov/how-plans-set-your-premiums/

That can easily change, though.

Define "easily". As I understand, it would require amending the Affordable Care Act. Assuming some rules are still being followed at the federal level.

Re: 23andMe files for bankruptcy to sell itself

#374

Post by Spacecosmonaut »

antegamisou wrote: post #294
CharlieDigital wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is you are not a malicious actor so you aren't coming up with good scams or truly malicious ideas. How about scam emails that open by asking people about their family history of some disease with a genetic marker and promising some miracle treatment? I can think of even worse outcomes depending on how policy on immigration and naturalization shifts

It's very amusing that the parent comment, or anyone else for that matter, believes their credentials somehow are enough to quell us about any potential horrific implications.

I added my credentials to address the "malicious scientist" scenario that some people may associate with leaked genetic information. You dont need an individual's genome to create rather dangerous gentic weaponry.

For example, we now have cell-penetrating prime editor ribonucleoproteins, a derivation of the CRISPR system. These are essentially assembled molecular machines that can be loaded install almost any genetic mutation, such as tumor driver mutations. A picogram of this protein complex is potentially enough to riddle your body with cancer a couple of years after delivery.

Re: 23andMe files for bankruptcy to sell itself

#375

Post by CharlieDigital »

Spacecosmonaut wrote: post #374
antegamisou wrote: post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's very amusing that the parent comment, or anyone else for that matter, believes their credentials somehow are enough to quell us about any potential horrific implications.

I added my credentials to address the "malicious scientist" scenario that some people may associate with leaked genetic information. You dont need an individual's genome to create rather dangerous gentic weaponry. For example, we now have cell-penetrating prime editor ribonucleoproteins, a derivation of the CRISPR system. These are essentially assembled molecular machines that can be loaded install almost any genetic…

Malicious doesn't just have to be biological in nature just because the data here is biological. That data can be used for a variety of non-biological malicious uses.

Re: 23andMe files for bankruptcy to sell itself

#376

Post by ceejayoz »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #373
ceejayoz wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That can easily change, though.

Define "easily". As I understand, it would require amending the Affordable Care Act. Assuming some rules are still being followed at the federal level.

That is well within "easily". One party controls Congress, the White House, and SCOTUS right now, and they're quite notably not showing much restraint right now.

Re: 23andMe files for bankruptcy to sell itself

#377

Post by dlcarrier »

eightman wrote: post #155
messe wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By the sounds of it, the board is about to find out what the market rate really is.

I mean if it was trading at $8/share isn't the market rate $8/share?

It takes some time to complete the process, so the price is usually based on the likely future value. For companies increasing in value, the offer is usually higher than the current price, and for campanies decreasing in value, it's usually lower.

Also, corrections aren't instant, so if the change of value was for something that had already happened, not something currently happening, the offer will reflect the expected price that the shares would settle at.

Re: 23andMe files for bankruptcy to sell itself

#378

Post by HWR_14 »

oskarkk wrote: post #355
addicted wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is still gonna be significantly worse than the $8/share offered. If the value of assets after paying off debtors is > $8/share, then that’s the easiest arbitrage opportunity considering it’s currently trading at $1.80. Just buy the whole thing for $3/share (an irrefutable premium of 67%), shut down operations entirely, pay off the creditors, and pocket the net assets of > $8/share and more than double your mone…

> If the claim is the CEO ran it into the ground then the board messed up even worse by not replacing the CEO. Can the board replace the CEO if the CEO has 49% of voting rights?

The answer is yes and no. Yes the board can replace the CEO, but then the 49% owner can almost certainly replace the board

Re: 23andMe files for bankruptcy to sell itself

#380

Post by jokethrowaway »

Symmetry wrote: post #301
deadbabe wrote: post #293

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You live in a democracy until you don’t. It can disappear overnight with the stroke of pen from some populist leader who just ignores laws. Never think you are safe just because you’re in a democracy.

If a future totalitarian government wants to save money on medical treatments then they can just euthanize anyone who gets cancer rather than euthanizing anyone whose genes say that they have a 50%+ greater risk than average of getting cancer. Or collect genetic samples themselves and use that to cull the population rather than just do it for people who were 23andMe customers.

or revert our diets to 1920 - no need to kill anyone :)

(but I get your point and I agree)

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