Does 23andMe enable HIPAA compliance?

The HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) Privacy Rule does not apply to consumer curation of health data or other protections related to privacy, security, or minimizing access to PHI. Even though 23andMe receives funding from the National Institutes for Health, 23andMe currently asserts that its data-mining analysis doesn’t constitute research on human subjects under the current version of the Common Rule because it de-identifies the data. This means that 23andMe may take the position that any consent it obtains to retain, use, and share consumer data isn’t necessary for regulatory compliance, but rather is done as a courtesy.