California has some of the strongest privacy laws in the country — and the only dedicated privacy agency — but 23andMe has revealed the limits of legislation when the worst happens, with even the state attorney general admitting he struggled to delete his own data from the company.

Unlike in states with weaker laws, the company is legally required in California to safeguard genetic privacy and delete people’s information upon request as it navigates bankruptcy filings. Those obligations live on — at least on paper — after 23andMe sells, Umberg said.

The South San Francisco-based company has publicly reported it is in “financial distress” and stated in recent securities filings that there is substantial doubt about its ability to keep going, the California Attorney General’s Office said in a news release.

Shares of DNA testing firm 23andMe were in free fall on Monday after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and lost its CEO.

Me has filed for bankruptcy, and an attorney general in California is reminding customers that they have a right to request the company delete their data.

Just months after it started trading on the Nasdaq in June 2021, the company was valued as high as $5.8 billion. As of Friday, the firm’s shares were worth less than a dollar.

The company filed for bankruptcy after financial challenges over the past few years and a massive data breach in 2023.

Would you trust a company with your most personal data — your DNA — if it was on the brink of collapse? Millions of 23andMe customers are now facing that unsettling reality as the genetic testing company faces an uncertain future.

Any purchaser of 23andMe assets should agree to be bound by the company's existing privacy policy, FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said in a letter to the U.S. trustee, a government office that oversees bankruptcies.