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The Company's Gone, But What About the Data?

September 14, 2009

Inspired by the financial problems at TruGenetics and DeCode, a guest post at Genetic Future from Genomics Law Report's Daniel Vorhaus and Lawrence Moore discusses what happens when a direct-to-consumer genomics company goes out of business. In particular, they take a look at the company's privacy and confidentiality policies. What will become of the users' data comes down to that fine print. Vorhaus and Moore conclude:

If the company's policy clearly permits the sale of genomic information in the kind of transaction that could be consummated in a bankruptcy case, then such a sale can go forward. But if the policy prohibits such a sale, or if the policy is unclear or does not address the subject at all, a transfer may still take place.