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Thu, 28 May 2026

Thu, 28 May 2026 California Attorney General sues 23andMe successor for 2023 data breach

Attorney General Rob Bonta alleges the company lied about the breach's severity.

* California Attorney General Rob Bonta will sue DNA testing firm Chrome Holding.
* The company's predecessor, 23andMe, allegedly failed to protect sensitive customer data, leading to a 2023 data breach that exposed information on nearly 7 million users.
* The breach included genetic predispositions and risk factors, as well as biological relatives' information, ancestry, and ethnicity.
* Bonta claims 23andMe "lied to consumers about the severity of its 2023 data breach".
* User data was sold on the dark web, with hackers specifically targeting Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPI) and Jewish users.
* The sale occurred during a period of increased hate crimes against these groups, which Bonta called "disturbing and incredibly dangerous".
* In related news, the UK's Information Commissioner's Office fined 23andMe £2.31m in 2024 for failing to secure user data properly.
* The company has made commitments to enhance data protections but faces ongoing regulatory scrutiny.