Though the entire country has celebrated the recent arrest of one of California's most notorious serial killers (the Zodiac Killer remains unidentified), the story of how the suspected Golden State Killer was caught has also created concerns for the safety and privacy of genetic material submitted to genetic testing companies like 23andMe and Ancestry, particularly since the US Congress seems uninterested in addressing privacy concerns after passing the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act 10 years ago.
But even though 23andMe and Ancestry weren't used to track down Joseph James DeAngelo, privacy advocates say anyone who has submitted DNA to any of these sites may have cause for concern, Business Insider says. So the site is offering consumers ways to, at least partially, delete their data from the sites if they're concerned about their privacy.
According to 23andMe's Biobanking Consent Document, if your spit or DNA sample is stored, the company can hold onto it for between one and 10 years, Business Insider says. But you can request that the company discard your spit sample through its Customer Care page, by navigating to Accounts and Registration and scrolling to the Requesting Account Closure option.
Helix, National Geographic's DNA service, reserves the right to store the DNA data indefinitely, Business Insider notes. But it will destroy spit samples if contacted through its website.