ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) – Virginia 6th District Congressman Ben Cline (R) has cosponsored a bipartisan bill aimed at protecting people’s privacy by restricting the sale of genetic data by biotech companies.
Cline cosponsored the bill with California Democrat Zoe Lofgren. He said it will protect consumer privacy by restricting the sale of genetic data obtained from individuals by biotech companies like 23andMe or Ancestry.com.
“When it comes to genetic information and data that’s derived from analyzing DNA samples that are sent in by companies to find out your genealogical background and things like that, that data is yours and should not be able to be bought and sold between companies,” said Cline.
The idea for the bill arose after 23andMe filed for bankruptcy in March, raising concerns about what would happen to the genetic data it had collected from millions of customers in the event of a potential sale.
“Selling that off to another company to profit without getting permission from the people whose DNA was being sold, that struck me as wrong,” said Cline.
Cline’s bill would amend the United States bankruptcy code to prevent DNA information and other genetic data from being sold by companies during bankruptcy proceedings.
“It’s a very narrow example that we’re looking at here with 23andMe, but it could be the beginning of an effort to make sure that all Americans have their data protected and are in control of that data and how and when it’s sold,” said Cline.
The bill would not prevent companies from selling DNA information as long as they have permission from the person.
“Currently, 23andMe is asking for people to grant them the ability to sell their data. We don’t want to take away from Americans the right or ability to sell their personal information. This would really only apply to those circumstances where an unknowing or an unwilling citizen has that data sold by a company going into bankruptcy,” said Cline.
Cline said protecting people’s genetic data is very important. A major concern when 23andMe first went bankrupt was the possibility that data would be sold to insurance companies, which could impact people’s coverage rates and whether their claims are denied.
“It’s your ethnic background. It could be related to what kinds of illnesses or diseases, or what kind of allergies you may have. It’s very sensitive information, very personal information, so it’s important to make sure that’s protected adequately in our federal code,” said Cline.
As more biotech startups continue to pop up in our hometowns and around the country, Cline said it is important to have guardrails around the sale of genetic data.
“Because many of the big guys haven’t declared bankruptcy, this hasn’t been a big problem for those companies, but for smaller startups that are in this market, you do see that buying and selling, or that ability, is under question. They want to preserve that ability, but we want to make sure the citizens have control, not the company,” he said.
Cline’s bill is currently in the judiciary committee. Congress is on recess until after Labor Day, but when it resumes, Cline hopes to get the bill to a vote in both houses in September.
He said he’s confident it will pass quickly with bipartisan support, and he hopes to have it on the president’s desk before the end of the year.
Copyright 2025 WDBJ. All rights reserved.