SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) — Class action lawyers are targeting 23andMe because of a data breach.
John Doe, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, filed a complaint Nov. 6 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against 23andMe Inc., alleging breach of implied contract, violation of California's Unfair Competition Law and other claims.
Doe says he is descended from Ashkenazi Jews and claims his personal identifiable information was taken in a 23andMe August data beach. He further claims the data breach targeted a specific religious group, the Ashkenazi Jews, and that the breach was a direct result of a loophole in 23andMe's website design that allowed the hack to occur.
Doe alleges 23andMe's negligence for failing to give timely notice of the data breach to descendants of Ashkenazi Jews and that 23andMe knew the hackers had posted their data on a platform called BeachForums.
He also alleges the hack was politically and/or racially motivated and that 23andMe failed to see the risk of genetic and ancestral information, which is "valuable and attractive" to hackers.
Doe and the class seek monetary relief, interest, trial by jury and all other just relief. They are represented by Dory Antullis, Stuart Davidson, Lindsey Taylor and Alexander Cohen of Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP in Boca Raton, Florida; Lynda Grant of The Grant Law Firm PLLC in New York; and Howard Longman of Longman Law PC in Livingston, New Jersey.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California case number 3:23-CB-05717