Genetic testing company 23andMe will pay $30 million to settle a class action lawsuit over a 2023 data breach which ended in some customers having information like names, birth years, and ancestry information exposed.
In October 2023, we reported on how information belonging to as many as seven million 23andMe customers turned up for sale on criminal forums following a credential stuffing attack against 23andMe.
23andMe said that cybercriminals had stolen profile information that users had shared through its DNA Relatives feature, an optional service that lets customers find and connect with genetic relatives.
In December 2023, 23andMe admitted that some genetic and health data might have been accessed during that breach. To dodge responsibility, the company wrote a letter to legal representatives of those affected by the breach, laying the blame at the feet of victims themselves.
23andMe also neglected to tell customers with Chinese and Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry that the cybercriminal appeared to have specifically targeted them, posting their information for sale on the dark web.
In January 2024, customers filed a class action lawsuit against 23andMe in a San Francisco court, alleging the company failed to protect their privacy. The result of that lawsuit is the settlement.
What immediately jumped out in the settlement is the title of one of the chapters:
“THE SETTLEMENT IS THE RESULT OF ZEALOUS ADVOCACY AND SKILLFUL NEGOTIATION”
What does that mean? Well, the $30 million is apparently all that 23andMe can afford to pay. And that’s only because the expectation is that cyberinsurance will cover $25 million.
The market value of the company has plummeted, and revenue declined. This decline had already set in prior to the incident, but it definitely didn’t help to improve the situation.
The court has not yet approved the settlement, but it’s expected that 23andMe will pay $30 million into a fund for customers whose data was compromised, as well as provide them with identity and genetic monitoring.
Other countries, like Canada and the UK have announced they will undertake a joint investigation into the data breach.
According to Malwarebytes’ data, over 3 million people were affected by the data breach, so none of the victims should expect to get rich because of this settlement.
On the dark web, the data is offered for sale in three separate data sets. A general set that includes 2,763,569 records, one belonging to Ashkenazi-based users (835,708 records), and one allegedly belonging to China-based users of 23andMe (68,541 records).
Check your digital footprint
If you want to find out if your personal data was exposed through this breach, you can use our free Digital Footprint scan. Fill in the email address you’re curious about (it’s best to submit the one you used to register and 23andMe) and we’ll send you a free report.
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