DNA testing agency 23andMe has been fined £2.31m by a UK watchdog over a knowledge breach in 2023 which affected 1000’s of individuals.
The Data Commissioner’s Workplace (ICO) mentioned the corporate – which has since filed for chapter – did not put satisfactory measures in place to safe delicate person information previous to the incident.
“This was a profoundly damaging breach that uncovered delicate private info, household histories, and even well being circumstances,” mentioned Data Commissioner John Edwards.
23andMe is ready to be bought to a brand new proprietor, TTAM Analysis Institute, which mentioned it had “made a number of binding commitments to boost protections for buyer information and privateness.”
23andMe’s customers had been focused by what is named a “credential stuffing” assault in October 2023.
This noticed hackers use passwords uncovered in earlier breaches to entry 23andMe accounts for which individuals had used the identical or comparable credentials.
They had been in a position to entry 14,000 particular person accounts – and, via these, obtain info regarding about 6.9m individuals linked to as doable relations on the location.
In response to the ICO, this included entry to private information belonging to 155,592 UK residents, reminiscent of names, yr of start, geographical info, profile pictures, race, ethnicity, well being stories and household bushes.
Stolen information didn’t embrace DNA data.
“As a type of impacted informed us: as soon as this info is on the market, it can’t be modified or reissued like a password or bank card quantity,” mentioned Mr Edwards.
On account of its extra delicate nature, genetic information is taken into account particular class information below UK information safety legislation and requires additional protections and safeguards.
Companies controlling it ought to think about having extra safety measures in place to assist safe it, based on the ICO’s steering.
Its investigation – launched together with Canada’s privateness commissioner last June – discovered that 23andMe breached UK information safety legislation by not having acceptable authentication and verification measures for purchasers throughout its login course of.
This included not having necessary multi-factor authentication to permit customers logging in to confirm themselves via extra means or gadgets.
The corporate additionally didn’t have safe password necessities or extra verification necessities for customers making an attempt to obtain uncooked genetic information, it added.
Mr Edwards mentioned such failures and delays in resolving them “left individuals’s most delicate information weak to exploitation and hurt”.
“Their safety programs had been insufficient, the warning indicators had been there, and the corporate was sluggish to reply,” he mentioned.
The corporate says it resolved the problems recognized in the course of the ICO and the Workplace of the Privateness Commissioner of Canada (OPC)’s probe by the tip of 2024.
Each watchdogs recently called on 23andMe to guard the delicate private information of its clients amid its chapter proceedings.
The corporate was initially set to be bought to biotechnology firm Regeneron Prescription drugs in a $256m deal.
However 23andMe said on Friday it had agreed to the sale of its belongings to TTAM Analysis Institute – a non-profit biotech organisation led by its co-founder and former chief government Anne Wojcicki.
It mentioned the acquisition of the corporate for a brand new value of $305m would include binding commitments to uphold present insurance policies and client protections, reminiscent of letting clients delete their accounts, genetic information and decide out of analysis.
A chapter courtroom is scheduled to listen to the case for its approval on Wednesday.
