OpenSNP, a large open source repository for user-uploaded genetic data, will shut down and delete all of its data at the end of April, co-founder Bastian Greshake Tzovaras has confirmed.<\/p>\n
In a blog post<\/a>, openSNP\u2019s Greshake Tzovaras attributed the decision to shutter the site due to concerns of data privacy following the financial collapse of 23andMe<\/a> and the rise in authoritarian governments around the world.<\/p>\n Founded in 2011 by Greshake Tzovaras, along with Philipp Bayer and Helge Rausch, openSNP became an open and public repository for customers of commercial genetic testing kits, including 23andMe, to upload their test results and find others with similar genetic variations. The site had close to 13,000 users at the time of its closure announcement, making it one of the largest public repositories of genetic data. Since its founding, openSNP has touted its contributions to academic and scientific research, and identified more than 7,500 genomes.<\/p>\n News of openSNP\u2019s shutdown comes in the wake of 23andMe filing for bankruptcy protection<\/a>, intensifying concerns that the company\u2019s vast banks of customers\u2019 sensitive genetic data will be sold to the highest bidder, who may not adhere to 23andMe\u2019s privacy commitments. The attorneys general for the states of California and New York, among others<\/a>, have warned 23andMe customers to delete their data ahead of the court-approved selloff later this year.<\/p>\n Greshake Tzovaras also said a contributing factor in shutting down openSNP was the \u201crise in far-right and other authoritarian governments,\u201d citing the removal of public data from the U.S. government\u2019s websites<\/a> soon after President Trump returned to power.<\/p>\n \u201cThe risk\/benefit calculus of providing free and open access to individual genetic data in 2025 is very different compared to 14 years ago,\u201d wrote Greshake Tzovaras. \u201cSunsetting openSNP \u2014 along with deleting the data stored within it \u2014 feels like it is the most responsible act of stewardship for these data today.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAlways been a balancing act\u201d<\/p>\n When reached by TechCrunch, Greshake Tzovaras was blunt in his decision to shut down openSNP now and not sooner.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe \u2018why now\u2019 to me is ultimately down to there being what counts for a fascist coup in the U.S.,\u201d Greshake Tzovaras told TechCrunch, a native of Germany.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSeeing people being disappeared from the streets under the most dubious pretexts really can\u2019t be called anything else,\u201d he said, referring to the recent reports of people living in the United States, including U.S. citizens<\/a>, who have been arrested in immigration raids, some whose whereabouts remain unknown<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Greshake Tzovaras said the \u201cwholesale dismantling of scientific institutions and science itself\u201d since January \u2014 the beginning of the second Trump administration \u2014 was a factor in the shutdown of openSNP.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s a stretch to worry about how genetic data might be soon abused to make false claims about a variety of topics, effectively bringing back a darker eugenics age,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Greshake Tzovaras said openSNP has \u201calways been a balancing act\u201d between its potential uses and risks, and that the site\u2019s existence has been an \u201congoing thought of whether the benefits can outweigh the risks.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n