Photo by Warren Umoh on Unsplash

The 23andMe bankruptcy teaches an important lesson about data ethics and data privacy, from the consumer perspective:

When you sign up for a service, it's not enough to ask "what will this company do with the data?"

You also need to ask:

• "What could successive chains of buyers do with that data?"

• "Is this company strong enough to fend off acquisitions?"

• "If I'm unhappy with where things are headed, how do I permanently remove my data from their systems?"

Essentially: it helps to see it as both a consumer and an investor.