Don’t Sell My DNA Act

This bill aims to protect your DNA data if a company goes bankrupt. It would treat genetic information as protected personal data in bankruptcy, and stop any use, sale, or lease of it unless every affected person gets advance written notice and then gives written consent after the case begins. If the data isn’t transferred, the person managing the bankruptcy must securely delete it using court-approved methods (for example, NIST media sanitization).

These rules would take effect as soon as the bill becomes law and would apply to bankruptcy cases already underway, as well as new or reopened cases.

• Who is affected: People whose genetic information is held by a company in bankruptcy, and the court-appointed managers of those cases.
• What changes: No using, selling, or leasing DNA data without each person’s written consent after giving advance written notice; if not transferred, the data must be securely deleted; genetic information is explicitly covered as protected personal data in bankruptcy.
• When: Starts on the date it becomes law and covers both pending and future bankruptcy cases.