23andMe will no longer let app developers read your DNA data

Christina Farr:

23andMe, which provides DNA testing kits for consumers, is telling outside app developers that they’ll no longer have access to the company’s raw genomic data.

Developers of health apps, weight loss services and quantified self tests have been able to use 23andMe’s anonymized data sets since 2012, when the company announced the opening of its application programming interface (API). The idea was to “allow authorized developers to build a broad range of new applications and tools for the 23andMe community,” the company said at the time.

But on Thursday, 23andMe sent an email to developers, informing them that the API was being disabled in two weeks and that apps will only be able to use reports generated by the company and not the hard data.

“We’re updating our API program to focus on apps that build on the interpretations and results we provide to our customers,” 23andMe said in the email, which was viewed by CNBC.