To me, this is a question like, "should I delete all my personal data from my computer before I sell it?" Yes. Yes you should. Is it guaranteed that the person who buys your computer will do something nefarious with your browser history and personal files? No. But they could. Why take the chance? So yeah, I'd highly recommend downloading whatever data you need from the site (because it's very likely the site will go away possibly without warning), and then deleting everything, immediately, before anyone actually buys the company and revokes your ability to do so.
If you want some possible scenarios, here's my thoughts: whoever buys 23andMe would have access to your contact info/name linked to your saliva sample and to your genetic analysis. 23andMe protects your privacy when they use your sample/data for medical research, but there's no guarantee the new buyer will as well (they say as much in that article, that they "hope to" secure a likeminded partner - "hope to", not "guarantee"). So no bones about it: a buyer will have your genetic profile and your DNA sample, and they will know that those are YOURS, personally.
So what could a buyer do with their purchase? Well, they could just rerun your sample looking for any medical markers they want (even if you only asked for an ancestry profile, them buying your sample makes it theirs - they can run tests you never asked for on it). They could build up a dossier on you about your genetic susceptibilities to all sorts of diseases. They don't need to share that info with you at all or even tell you that they're doing it. Though I could see one business model being them sending out creepy coy emails going "do you know what's lurking in your DNA now that we ran our Super Special Updated Analysis on it? Pay us $50 and find out!"
What else could they do with that genetic dossier? Likely sell it to someone, who in turn could sell it to whoever they wanted. It could be sold to advertising companies, who would probably be very interested in what diseases you're likely to get as you age (because they could better target you for ads, like oh, start sending you advertisements for disease prevention programs, because they'd know you're likely to get/be worried about that disease when you get older.) Insurance companies would likely be interested in it, too, though technically they're not allowed to discriminate against you because of your genes (but who wants to test that technicality?)
What I'd be most worried about is it getting sold to one of the data brokers - you can read about them here (https://www.idx.us/knowledge-center/yes-your-personal-information-is-for-sale-heres-what-to-do-about-it), but basically they are sites that compile every bit of info they can on you from advertising engagement, social media accounts, publicly available info, etc. Then they sell that profile to whoever wants it. Add your genetic data into that, and your genetic susceptibilities would be available to anyone with the money to pay for your file (and that info is not terribly expensive). A prospective employer or insurer or landlord, a stalker, random curious coworkers, scammers looking to target you for fraud, companies that want to train AI. Anyone.
Are these scary things guaranteed to happen? No. It's possible the company could be sold to someone similar who is privacy minded and...I don't know, thinks they can be a more viable company than 23andMe was. But this is in no way guaranteed, and as soon as 23andMe is sold, it might be too late for you to change your mind if you don't like the new buyer's plan. The risks are definitely there, same as if you sold a computer to someone without wiping the hard drive. You're handing a stranger a lot of data that they might be able to do harm with.
Also, honest question...do you see a BENEFIT to you leaving your info on 23andMe? I can't think of one. Whatever benefit you get from using the site right now...I'd expect that site to not be available much longer, no matter what you do. You leaving your data on there for a strange company to buy and do god knows what with doesn't give you anything extra. So yeah, I recommend backing up your data so it's safe with you, and then mitigate all the above risks by telling 23andMe to delete it all. It seems the safe thing to do.
no subject
If you want some possible scenarios, here's my thoughts: whoever buys 23andMe would have access to your contact info/name linked to your saliva sample and to your genetic analysis. 23andMe protects your privacy when they use your sample/data for medical research, but there's no guarantee the new buyer will as well (they say as much in that article, that they "hope to" secure a likeminded partner - "hope to", not "guarantee"). So no bones about it: a buyer will have your genetic profile and your DNA sample, and they will know that those are YOURS, personally.
So what could a buyer do with their purchase? Well, they could just rerun your sample looking for any medical markers they want (even if you only asked for an ancestry profile, them buying your sample makes it theirs - they can run tests you never asked for on it). They could build up a dossier on you about your genetic susceptibilities to all sorts of diseases. They don't need to share that info with you at all or even tell you that they're doing it. Though I could see one business model being them sending out creepy coy emails going "do you know what's lurking in your DNA now that we ran our Super Special Updated Analysis on it? Pay us $50 and find out!"
What else could they do with that genetic dossier? Likely sell it to someone, who in turn could sell it to whoever they wanted. It could be sold to advertising companies, who would probably be very interested in what diseases you're likely to get as you age (because they could better target you for ads, like oh, start sending you advertisements for disease prevention programs, because they'd know you're likely to get/be worried about that disease when you get older.) Insurance companies would likely be interested in it, too, though technically they're not allowed to discriminate against you because of your genes (but who wants to test that technicality?)
What I'd be most worried about is it getting sold to one of the data brokers - you can read about them here (https://www.idx.us/knowledge-center/yes-your-personal-information-is-for-sale-heres-what-to-do-about-it), but basically they are sites that compile every bit of info they can on you from advertising engagement, social media accounts, publicly available info, etc. Then they sell that profile to whoever wants it. Add your genetic data into that, and your genetic susceptibilities would be available to anyone with the money to pay for your file (and that info is not terribly expensive). A prospective employer or insurer or landlord, a stalker, random curious coworkers, scammers looking to target you for fraud, companies that want to train AI. Anyone.
Are these scary things guaranteed to happen? No. It's possible the company could be sold to someone similar who is privacy minded and...I don't know, thinks they can be a more viable company than 23andMe was. But this is in no way guaranteed, and as soon as 23andMe is sold, it might be too late for you to change your mind if you don't like the new buyer's plan. The risks are definitely there, same as if you sold a computer to someone without wiping the hard drive. You're handing a stranger a lot of data that they might be able to do harm with.
Also, honest question...do you see a BENEFIT to you leaving your info on 23andMe? I can't think of one. Whatever benefit you get from using the site right now...I'd expect that site to not be available much longer, no matter what you do. You leaving your data on there for a strange company to buy and do god knows what with doesn't give you anything extra. So yeah, I recommend backing up your data so it's safe with you, and then mitigate all the above risks by telling 23andMe to delete it all. It seems the safe thing to do.