23andMe Agrees to $30M Settlement for Huge Data Breach

Money Bizwiz Team
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23andMe to Pay $30 Million Settlement for Data Breach

Recent news from Reuters has revealed that genetics testing company 23andMe has agreed to a $30 million settlement following a data breach that exposed the personal information of 6.9 million customers to the dark web. As part of the settlement, the company will also provide three years of security monitoring for those affected.

The class action lawsuit claimed that 23andMe neglected to inform customers with Ashkenazi Jewish and Chinese ancestry that their data had been compromised and may have been specifically targeted in the breach that occurred in April 2023.

Related: Hackers Sell Stolen Data, Including DNA Profiles of ‘Celebrities,’ on Dark Web

23andMe defended the settlement as “fair, adequate, and reasonable” in court filings, according to Reuters.

In a December 2023 blog post addressing the breach, 23andMe disclosed that the attack began in April 2023 and lasted for approximately five months. With 14.1 million customers in their system at the time, at least half of their database was impacted.

Who Can Claim Compensation?

According to court documents, affected users have the opportunity to claim between $100 and $10,000, depending on the severity of the impact on their personal information. If the settlement is finalized, instructions will be provided on how to submit a claim for reimbursement.

Customers residing in Alaska, California, Illinois, and Oregon fall under “genetic privacy laws with statutory damages provisions” and are limited to a $100 claim, as reported by PCMag.

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