From BBC
Struggling DNA testing firm 23andMe to be bought for $256m
By Lily Jamali
The DNA testing firm 23andMe says it has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals for $256m (£192m).
It comes two months after the company filed for bankruptcy protection in the US.
23andMe said Regeneron had committed to comply with its privacy policies as part of the deal, and that Regeneron has security controls in place to protect user data.
Last month, the firm agreed to have an ombudsman oversee the protection of user data in response to demands by several state attorneys general in the US...
Regeneron has different aims from the ones 23andMe presented to consumers, according to Dr. Jennifer King, privacy and data policy Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence.
Dr. King, who has interviewed multiple 23andMe users for her research, said the company “always led with the non-profit ‘we’re helping humanity’ side which helped obscure its for-profit mission”...
Jennifer King earned her Ph.D. at the School of Information in 2018. Currently, she is the Director of Privacy at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society.
