Class Action Claims Ancestry.com Violated Genetic Privacy Law by Disclosing Data in Blackstone Acquisition

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A proposed class action alleges Ancestry.com ran afoul of an Illinois privacy law when it shared its vast database of genetic information with Blackstone, Inc. upon being acquired by the private equity firm in late 2020.

According to the 12-page case, defendant Ancestry.com DNA, LLC failed to obtain Illinois residents’ written consent before disclosing their genetic information to Blackstone as part of its $4.7 billion August 2020 acquisition of the genetic testing company. The lawsuit, filed by a minor represented by his mother, claims Ancestry’s actions directly contradict the purpose of the Illinois Genetic Information Privacy Act (GIPA), a state law that aims to encourage participation in genetic testing by protecting residents’ private genetic information from unauthorized disclosure.

“The deprivation by Defendant of the statutory rights conferred by GIPA constitutes the actual injuries the Illinois Legislature sought to prevent,” the complaint alleges.

According to the case, Ancestry disclosed online following its acquisition by Blackstone that its wealth of consumer genetic information would be released or disclosed to the private equity firm “for its use.” The suit alleges, however, that Ancestry failed to identify any means by which consumers could prevent the disclosure of their genetic information to Blackstone or its affiliates.

Per the complaint, the Illinois GIPA prohibits the disclosure of residents’ genetic information—including residents’ genetic tests, their family members’ genetic tests, the manifestation of a disease or disorder in their family members or any request or receipt of genetic services or participation in clinical research that includes genetic services by the individual or a family member—to anyone other than the individual or those specifically authorized in writing. 

The case alleges that although compliance with the GIPA is “straightforward and may be accomplished through a single, signed sheet of paper or its electronic equivalent,” Ancestry has nevertheless failed to obtain Illinois residents’ consent before disclosing their private genetic information to an unauthorized party.

Moreover, the lawsuit claims Blackstone’s acquisition of Ancestry included not only genetic information but personal identifying information such as consumers’ first and last names, email addresses, home addresses and, in some cases, age and gender.

The plaintiff is a minor who claims to have used, with his mother’s help, an at-home DNA test kit from Ancestry.com. Per the complaint, the plaintiff and his guardian “reasonably believed” that his highly sensitive genetic information would be shared only with his family and never disclosed to a third party such as Blackstone without his or his mother’s written consent.

The plaintiff says he would never have agreed to provide Ancestry with his genetic information had he known the data would be disclosed to unauthorized third parties.

The lawsuit looks to represent Illinois residents whose genetic information was disclosed or released by Ancestry.com to Blackstone according to the defendant’s records.

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