A DNA-testing firm appears to have ceased trading - without telling its customers what has happened to the highly sensitive data they shared with it.
Customers of the firm describe the situation as "very alarming" and say they want answers about what has happened to their "most personal information". Experts say it shows how users of DNA-testing services can find themselves "completely at the mercy" of such companies when it comes to protecting very sensitive data.Lisa Topping, from Saffron Walden, Essex, sent a saliva sample to Atlas Biomed several years ago, paying around £100 for a personalised genetic report.
"I don’t know what someone else could do with but it’s the most personal information… I don’t know how comfortable I feel that they have just disappeared," Lisa told me.It promised her a refund - then went silent, despite her trying every means of contact she could find.She describes the situation as "very alarming."The BBC was also unable to contact Atlas Biomed.
It shared a post on Facebook in June 2023, but did not respond to any of the comments – which were full of people complaining about being unable to contact it or access their profiles.The apparent disappearance of Atlas Biomed is a mystery - but it appears to have links with Russia.