DNA company with links to Russia vanishes into thin air - along with its customer data

A DNA-testing firm with apparent links to Russia appears to have ceased trading, without telling customers what has happened to their sensitive data.

Atlas Biomed, which has offices in London, offered to provide insights into customer’s genetic make up as well as possible links to illness. But the firm’s website is no longer working, with clients unable to access their personalised data. People who have paid hundreds of pounds for the service are now demanding to know what has happened to their “most personal information”.

There is no evidence that any of the data has been misused. The regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office, confirmed it has received a complaint about the firm. It said: “People have the right to expect that organisations will handle their personal information securely and responsibly.”

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Lisa Topping, from Essex, sent a saliva sample to Atlas Biomed and paid £100 for a personalised genetic report. She said: “I don’t know what someone else could do with the data, but it’s the most personal information. I don’t know how comfortable I feel that they have just disappeared.”

Kate Lake, from Kent, paid £139 for a report which never arrived. She said: “I just never heard back from anyone, i’s like no-one was at home. What happens now to that information they have got? I would like to hear some answers.”

Many customers have taken to the firm’s page complaining they are unable to contact them.

The company appears to have links to . Two of the remaining officers listed with Companies House are listed at the same address in Moscow, as is a Russian billionaire described as a resigned director.

Cybersecurity expert Prof Alan Woodward said the links to Russia were “odd”. He said: “If people knew the provenance of this company and how it operates they might not be quite so ready to trust them with their DNA.”