Technology

A DNA-testing firm appears to have ceased trading - without telling its customers what has happened to the highly sensitive data they shared with it.

Atlas Biomed, which has offices in London, offered to provide insights into people's genetic make up as well as their predisposition to certain illnesses.

However, users are no longer able to access their personalised reports online and the company has not responded to the BBC's requests for comment.

Customers of the firm describe the situation as "very alarming" and say they want answers about what has happened to their "most personal information".

The apparent disappearance of Atlas Biomed is a mystery - but it appears to have links with Russia.

Prof Carissa Veliz - author of Privacy is Power - points out that DNA is arguably the most valuable personal data you have. It is uniquely yours, you can’t change it, and it reveals your – and by extension, your family’s - biological strengths and weaknesses.

Biometric data is given special protection under the UK’s version of GDPR, the data protection law.

"When you give your data to a company you are completely at their mercy and you have to be able to trust them," Prof Veliz said.

"We shouldn’t have to wait until something happens."