Sponsors (5)
The bill strengthens privacy and legal protections for individuals whose genetic data becomes part of a bankruptcy estate, at the cost of added compliance burdens, slower estate sales, increased litigation risk, and possibly reduced asset recoveries for creditors.
People whose genetic data is part of a bankruptcy estate will receive prior written notice before any sale, lease, or other use of that data, giving them advance knowledge and an opportunity to respond.
Trustees and debtors must delete estate-owned genetic data that is not sold using court-prescribed methods, reducing the risk of unauthorized retention and future misuse of sensitive genetic information.
The bankruptcy code will explicitly treat genetic information as a protected category, strengthening statutory privacy protections for individuals whose genetic data could be treated as estate assets.
Requiring secure deletion methods (e.g., NIST SP 800-88) imposes compliance costs and operational burdens on trustees and debtors in possession, raising administrative expenses for estate administration.
Notifying every person whose genetic data could be subject to sale may slow sales processes and increase administrative costs for estates, delaying distributions and complicating estate administration.
The added judicial requirement to determine compliance with nonbankruptcy law could lengthen bankruptcy proceedings and increase litigation over whether a sale or lease of genetic data is lawful.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Adds genetic information to bankruptcy protections, requires notice and court review for sale/lease/use, and mandates secure deletion of estate-held genetic data not disposed of.
Introduced May 22, 2025 by John Cornyn · Last progress May 22, 2025
Adds genetic information to the list of sensitive categories protected in bankruptcy and creates notice, deletion, and court-review rules for any use, sale, or lease of genetic data owned by a bankruptcy estate. Trustees or debtors in possession must notify each person whose genetic information would be used, sold, or leased, obtain a court finding about legality under nonbankruptcy law, and securely delete any estate-held genetic information that is not sold or otherwise disposed of using court-directed methods such as NIST SP 800-88.