Maryland’s attorney general on Wednesday urged consumers to delete their 23andMe accounts as the genetic testing company begins bankruptcy proceedings.

San Francisco-based 23andMe filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sunday, saying that it will look to sell “substantially all of its assets” through a court-approved reorganization plan.

The filing raises privacy concerns for consumers about their sensitive genetic information and how that may be protected, Attorney General Anthony Brown said in a consumer alert issued by his office.

On Wednesday, a judge gave the company permission to begin trying to find a buyer for its customers’ medical and ancestry-related data, according to a report by Bloomberg. The data is considered to be 23andMe’s most valuable asset.

Citing a data breach in 2024 that compromised the genetic data of 7 million people, Brown said consumers should take steps to protect their “highly sensitive” genetic information by deleting their 23andMe accounts.

Experts note that DNA data is particularly sensitive — and thus valuable.

“At a fundamental biological level, this is you and only you,” said David Choffnes, a computer science professor at Northeastern University and executive director of its Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute. “If you have an email address that gets compromised, you can find another email provider and start using a new email address. And you’re pretty much able to move on with your life without problem. And you just can’t do that with your genetic code.”

In a news release, Brown said the company has assured consumers that they can delete data from their 23andMe account.

Customers can log into their account and permanently delete their data by following the steps on this page, according to the news release.

If you previously asked 23andMe to store your saliva sample and DNA, you can also ask that it be destroyed by going to your account settings and clicking on “Preferences.” And you can withdraw consent to third-party researchers to use your genetic data and sample under “Research and Product Consents.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Originally Published: March 27, 2025 at 6:09 AM EDT