Industry — Lawsuit
Executive Summary
Attorney General Jackley's Genetic Data Privacy Bill Signed into Law
What Happened
South Dakota Governor Rhoden signed Attorney General Jackley's genetic data privacy bill into law on or around March 23, 2026. The legislation establishes new legal protections for genetic information in South Dakota. This represents the state's formal adoption of regulatory measures governing how genetic data can be collected, used, and shared.
Who Is Affected
South Dakota residents who use genetic testing services, including direct-to-consumer DNA testing companies and medical genetic screening providers, are directly affected by this law. The legislation impacts both consumers who submit genetic samples and companies that collect, store, or process genetic information within the state's jurisdiction.
Why It Matters
This law addresses growing privacy concerns around genetic information, which is uniquely sensitive because it reveals hereditary health risks, ancestry, and can identify biological relatives. As commercial genetic testing becomes increasingly popular, state-level legislation like this sets important precedents for how this irreversible, permanent biological data is protected from misuse, unauthorized sharing, or exploitation by companies and third parties.
What You Should Do
South Dakota residents should review the privacy policies of any genetic testing services they currently use or plan to use to understand how the new law affects their rights. If you have previously submitted genetic data to testing companies, contact those providers to understand what protections now apply to your stored information and whether you can request deletion or restrict sharing under the new legislation.
AI-Assisted
Event summaries are generated by Claude AI from verified sources and reviewed by humans before publication.