23andMe just can’t catch a break after that massive data breach last year exposed 1 million customer profiles. Now, new lawsuits allege the DNA testing company failed to disclose some pretty important details.
According to court documents, hackers specifically targeted users with Chinese and Ashkenazi Jewish heritage, compiling their genetic test results and personal info into lists then sold on the dark web. I’m talking names, addresses – the works.
But 23andMe’s breach notification letters apparently didn’t mention customers’ backgrounds at all, or warn that they could be at risk due to their ethnicity amidst “current geopolitical tensions.” That’s pretty messed up.
Here’s the backstory…the hack went undetected for months after intruders started accessing accounts using credentials leaked online back in April 2023. 23andMe only discovered the activity in September but didn’t go public until October.
By then, a data set with 1 million Ashkenazi Jewish user profiles was already dumped on a hacking forum. And when some creep asked for “Chinese accounts,” the hackers happily obliged by linking to personal data on 100,000 customers of Chinese descent.
The icing on this garbage cake? The hackers then offered up info on “wealthy families serving Zionism” after that tragic Gaza hospital bombing. Like what the actual hell, right?
Obviously this whole saga has customers both shaking angry fists and fearing for their safety. I’d be livid and terrified too if my genetic ancestry made me a target without warning!
The new lawsuits argue 23andMe royally failed its users by omitting these critical details in breach notifications. And they have a solid point if you ask me. Here’s hoping the jury awards massive damages for such incompetence.
