Your
privacy
comes first.

When you explore your DNA with 23andMe, you entrust us with important personal information. That’s why, since day one, protecting your privacy has been our number one priority. We're committed to providing you with a safe place where you can learn about your DNA knowing your privacy is protected.

You are free to explore your DNA with confidence.

You should be able to focus on learning about all of the wonderful things your DNA has to offer. Rest assured knowing that…

  • We will not share your genetic data with employers, insurance companies, public databases or 3rd party marketers without your explicit consent.
  • We give you full control to decide how your information is used and with whom it is shared.
  • We break everything down into easy-to-understand language so that each choice you make is an informed choice.
  • We exceed industry data protection standards and have achieved 3 different ISO certifications to demonstrate the strength of our security program.
  • We encrypt all sensitive information and conduct regular assessments to identify security vulnerabilities and threats.
  • We will not release any individual-level personal information to law enforcement unless we are required to do so by court order, subpoena, search warrant or other requests that we determine are legally valid.

You are free to change your mind at any time.

You can download your data, delete your account or have us discard your sample in your account settings at any point.

You are in control
of your data.

It’s your data, so you call the shots. From the moment you register your kit and set up your private account, you have meaningful choice in everything you do. That means you decide how your information is used and with whom it is shared. We’ve answered a few questions you might have below.

No. Your data (genetic or self-reported) will not be provided to an insurance company or employer. End of story.

We have been long-time supporters of legislative efforts intended to prevent genetic discrimination and to safeguard individuals' genetic privacy. In the US specifically, we were active in the development of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) enacted in 2008.

We also supported the California Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (Senate Bill No. 559), which was enacted in 2011.

We will not release any individual-level personal information to law enforcement without your explicit consent unless required by law. We closely scrutinize all law enforcement requests, and we will only comply with court orders, subpoenas, search warrants or other requests that we determine are legally valid.

And IF that were to ever happen we would be transparent and notify anyone affected, unless prevented by the legal request.

It is not. With our DNA Relatives tool, you are asked whether you would like to opt in to the feature. Once you do opt in, you control at what level you are connected with both known and unknown close and distant relatives and what information is shared with them. And, if you opt-in, you can opt-out at any time.

Absolutely not. If you choose to participate in our groundbreaking research (that hopes to accelerate scientific discovery and treatments), your data will be de-identified (stripped of your personal information) and aggregated (put into a data set with thousands of other people's data) before being analyzed by our researchers.

Participation is completely voluntary and choosing not to participate will not impact your 23andMe experience.

23andMe Research is overseen by an independent review board and follows ethical and legal guidelines, including making sure you have transparency about the research program and understand the risks and benefits of participation.

You decide whether the lab biobanks your saliva sample or safely discards it after it is analyzed.

We do, but you have a number of options to control or limit how your data is used.

These tracking technologies are used to help us understand how our website is being used, and let you navigate between pages efficiently since it remembers your preferences and hopefully improves your browsing experience.

Learn about your options here (cookie policy).

There might be some reports you’re nervous about seeing. That’s completely understandable. Deciding whether or not you want to learn about a potential increased health risk from a report is a personal choice. You have control over what types of information you would like to see and can choose to exclude certain types of reports that you may not want to view.

They are not. You decide when and with whom you share your 23andMe information, including friends, family members and health care professionals.

Are you the
audio/visual type of learner?

We've got you covered.

Your data is fiercely protected by security practices that are regularly reviewed and updated.

Your genetic information deserves the highest level of security, because without security, you can’t have privacy. 23andMe employs software, hardware, and physical security measures to protect your data. And while no security standard or system is bulletproof, we’re doing everything in our power to keep your personal data safe.

We meet the highest industry standards for data security. Our information security management system received certification under the globally recognized ISO/IEC 27001:2013, 27018 & 27701 standards after an extensive security audit. View or download our certification here (iso certificate).

We take multiple steps. First of all, third-party security experts regularly conduct audits and assessments of our systems, ensuring we will never let our guard down.

We encrypt all sensitive information, both when it is stored and when it is being transmitted, so that we make it difficult for potential hackers to gain access.

Rest assured that your personally identifiable information (such as your name and email) is stored in in a separate database from your genetic data so that no one but you (when you use your username and password) can connect the dots between the two. That means even if someone gained access to one of these databases, they could not connect your identity to your genetic data, or vice versa.

Want to know even more? We've got some more resources for you.

We hope that by now you are feeling confident that you are in control and your data is well-protected. But we also understand that you may want to dive even deeper into the details, and we love that.

If you still have any questions at all, we want to make sure you get answers.

Contact us at privacy@23andMe.com and we’ll get you the information you need.

Stay up to date.

We'll reach out with privacy updates, exclusive promotions and new genetic discoveries.