23andMe says ‘delays’ resolved after users rushed to delete data

23andMe Inc. said Tuesday that it experienced website delays, after a wave of customers sought to delete their genetic data before it can be sold through a planned bankruptcy auction.

A company spokesperson said the site "experienced some issues and delays due to increased traffic" on Monday, in response to Bloomberg News questions about whether users were facing issues trying to close their accounts. Those problems have since been resolved, the spokesperson said, advising users to contact customer support if they continue to encounter trouble deleting their data.

Federal law prohibits companies from using genetic information for health insurance or employment, said Abe Schwab, a philosophy professor at Purdue University Fort Wayne, who has studied genomic privacy in the U.S. The same restriction, however, doesn't apply to other types of insurance, like life insurance or long-term disability insurance, Schwab said.

Read the full story in the Miami Herald.