23andMe's genetic reports are not medical diagnoses and should not be used to make health or treatment decisions. Any reliance on the information provided is explicitly at your own risk.
This analysis describes what 23andMe's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology
This disclaimer defines the operational scope and intended use of the service by explicitly excluding medical diagnosis and treatment guidance from the Services' purposes. It establishes the allocation of liability risk to the user for any health-related decisions based on information obtained through the platform.
Interpretive note: The enforceability of the 'solely at your own risk' liability disclaimer varies materially by jurisdiction; in many of the countries served by this international version, consumer protection law may limit the extent to which this disclaimer can insulate 23andMe from liability for health-related information.
The updated Terms now apply only to users who live outside the United States, Canada, EEA, UK, and Switzerland, or who access the Services from outside those regions. US, Canadian, EEA, UK, and Swiss users are directed to region-specific Terms instead. Additionally, when terms for a specific Service conflict with the main Terms, the specific Service terms now govern that portion of your use rather than the main Terms controlling. The mandatory arbitration provision remains in the document but is no longer prominently featured at the very beginning of the Terms.
View change record →The updated Terms of Service now apply exclusively to users in the United States, narrowing the geographic scope from the prior version that addressed users in multiple regions. The terms now contain a prominently featured mandatory arbitration provision that requires disputes to be resolved through individual arbitration on an individual basis rather than through jury trials or class action lawsuits. This means that if a user has a dispute with 23andMe, the updated terms require arbitration as the method of resolution instead of traditional litigation. Additionally, if a user purchases additional services, the main Terms of Service (including the arbitration provision) will control any conflicting terms from those additional services. You can review the complete updated Terms of Service through the link provided in the document.
View change record →The updated terms now apply only to users who live outside or access services outside the United States, Canada, EEA, UK, and Switzerland. Previously, the terms applied to US-based users. The terms also clarify that when service-specific terms conflict with the general Terms of Service, the service-specific terms will govern that particular service rather than the general terms controlling all conflicts. This means users of additional services may operate under different dispute resolution and governance procedures depending on which service they are using.
View change record →If you receive a genetic result suggesting elevated risk for a health condition and make a medical decision based on that result, the terms state this is entirely at your own risk and that 23andMe does not warrant or guarantee any health-related information provided. This is a significant liability limitation that consumers relying on health reports should understand.
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THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED 'AS IS' AND 'AS AVAILABLE' WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. GRAMMARLY DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICES WILL BE UN...
THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. REPLIT DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED...
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"23andMe's Services are not intended to diagnose any condition or disease. The Services are not intended to tell you anything about your current state of health, or to be used to make medical decisions, including whether or not you should take a medication, how much of a medication you should take, or determine any treatment. Reliance on any information provided by 23andMe, 23andMe employees, others appearing on our website at the invitation of 23andMe, or other visitors to our website is solely at your own risk.— Excerpt from 23andMe's 23andMe Terms of Service
(1) REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: This provision is central to 23andMe's regulatory positioning as a non-clinical, research-and-educational service rather than an in vitro diagnostic device or clinical laboratory test subject to FDA oversight in the US or equivalent bodies internationally. The terms acknowledge that 23andMe is licensed as a clinical laboratory in California but is not universally licensed internationally for health-related genetic testing. Regulatory bodies in served jurisdictions, including Australia's TGA and equivalent national authorities, may independently assess whether the services constitute medical devices or clinical tests regardless of this contractual disclaimer. The FTC Act is relevant to the adequacy of disclosures and whether the disclaimer is sufficient to prevent consumer confusion about the health significance of results. (2) GOVERNANCE EXPOSURE: High. The tension between offering reports that discuss disease risk and carrier status while simultaneously disclaiming any diagnostic or medical function is a known area of regulatory scrutiny for direct-to-consumer genetic testing companies. The disclaimer that reliance is 'solely at your own risk' is a broad contractual liability waiver whose enforceability varies significantly by jurisdiction, particularly in consumer protection contexts where liability waivers for personal harm are often limited or void. (3) JURISDICTION FLAGS: In the EU, UK, Australia, and many other jurisdictions, contractual disclaimers that attempt to exclude liability for personal injury or that contradict mandatory consumer statutory rights may be unenforceable. Australia's Australian Consumer Law, for example, provides guarantees that cannot be excluded by contract. Singapore, New Zealand, and Canadian jurisdictions similarly have consumer protection frameworks that limit the enforceability of broad liability exclusions. (4) CONTRACT AND VENDOR IMPLICATIONS: Healthcare providers or employers seeking to use 23andMe results in a clinical or occupational context should note that the terms explicitly disclaim any clinical validity or medical utility for these purposes. The prohibition on employer use of the services as a user eligibility condition reinforces this boundary. (5) COMPLIANCE CONSIDERATIONS: Compliance teams should assess whether the disclaimer language is adequate under each served jurisdiction's consumer protection law and whether additional disclosures are required for health-related genetic reports. The statement that 'many of the genetic discoveries that we report have not been clinically validated' is a material disclosure that should be prominently surfaced at the point of purchase and result delivery, not only in the terms of service.
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This disclaimer defines the operational scope and intended use of the service by explicitly excluding medical diagnosis and treatment guidance from the Services' purposes. It establishes the allocation of liability risk to the user for any health-related decisions based on information obtained through the platform.
If you receive a genetic result suggesting elevated risk for a health condition and make a medical decision based on that result, the terms state this is entirely at your own risk and that 23andMe does not warrant or guarantee any health-related information provided. This is a significant liability limitation that consumers relying on health reports should understand.
No. ConductAtlas is an independent monitoring service. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by 23andMe.