The genetic sharing site Opensnp to exclude, citing concerns about data confidentiality and “growth of authoritarian governments”

Opensnp, a large open -of -the -genetic data store, loaded with users, will turn off and delete all its data at the end of April, confirmed co -founder Bastian Greshkoker.

In blog postOpensnp’s Greshake Tzovaras attributes the decision to close the site due to concerns of data confidentiality After the financial breakdown of 23andme And the growth of authoritarian governments around the world.

Founded in 2011 by Greshake Tzovaras, along with Philip Bayer and Helge Rausch, Opensnp is becoming an open and public storage for customers of commercial genetic test kits, including 23andme, to upload their test results and find others with similar genetic variations. The site had nearly 13,000 users at the time of its announcement, making it one of the largest public genetic data repositories. Since its founding, OPENSNP has announced its contribution to academic and research and identifies more than 7500 genomes.

The news of stopping Opensnp comes as a result of 23Andme submission to protect against bankruptcyIncreasing fears that the huge banks of sensitive genetic data to customers will be sold to the highest auction participant, which may not adhere to 23andme confidentiality commitments. California and New York General Lawyers, among the othersThe 23andme clients have warned to delete their data before the court approved by the court later this year.

Greshake Tzovaras also stated that an exclusion factor contributes Remove public data from US government websites Shortly after President Trump returned to power.

“The risk calculation/benefit of providing free and open access to individual genetic data in 2025 is very different compared to 14 years ago,” writes Greshke Tsovaras. “Sunsetting opensnp – along with the deletion of the data stored in it – feels that this is the most responsible act of managing this data today.”

“Has always been a balancing act”

When it was reached by TechCrunch, Greshake Tzovaras was dumb in his decision to close Opensnp now and not earlier.

“Why now,” for me, in the end, it comes down to what is reported to be a fascist coup in the United States, “Tsovaras told TechCrunch, a native of Germany.

“Seeing the people who have disappeared from the streets under the most implicated pretexts really can be called nothing else,” he said, referring to the latest messages of people living in the United States, including US citizenswho have been arrested in immigration attacks, Some whose location remains unknownS

Groshake Tsovaras said that “disassembling the wholesale of scientific institutions and science itself” from January – the beginning of the Second Trump Administration – is a factor in stopping Opensnp.

“I do not think it is stretching to worry about how genetic data can be abused soon to make false statements about different topics, effectively returning the darker eugenics,” he said.

Groshake Tsovaras said Opensnp “has always been a balancing act” between its potential uses and risks and that the existence of the site is “Continuing thought whether the benefits can exceed the risks”.

In a historical example, he gave – when the law enforcement agencies used genetic data from the GedMatch General website in 2018 until Define the notorious serial killer -Greshake Tzovaras said Opensnp seems at a time when it is less appropriate or at risk for use than law enforcement than larger databases specific to the gear. (Greshake Tzovaras confirmed to TechCrunch that regardless of the discoveries and public nature of the data it stored, Opensnp has never received a request for law enforcement of any genetic or user data.)

Tsovaras said that, compared to the first Trump administration, “the abuse of science is both qualitatively and quantitatively different than what we see today.”

“In addition to the greater conversation about the impact of genetic data in the context of the bankruptcy of 23andme, we decided it was time to pull the plug,” Tsovaras told TechCrunch.

Tsovaras also told TechCrunch that, with a positive impact, maintaining OpenSNP escapes for 14 years can be his “most great achievement”. He said Opensnp is moving at about $ 100 a month, in front of commercial startups who worked to secure revenue from people’s data, but ultimately failed. Groskete Tsovaras said that in this sense he opens “he feels as an evidence of the power of open source/culture.”

The site has also contributed to research and publications “in a wide range of disciplines – from Infosec/confidentiality to biomedical research,” says Grushkek Zwiras. Many students also took advantage of access to real -world data hosted by Opensnp, he said.

“In this sense, I think our hope of” democratization “of access to genomics was at least partially successful,” said Grushkek Tsovaras.

Updated to change the name of the OpenSNP name anywhere.