SAN ANTONIO — Many of us love to look into our family lineage with many websites online, but you need to give them your personal information. One site with a massive data breach affected millions of people in the U.S., which led to an action class lawsuit.
The website is the popular 23andMe.
In October 2023, the company said hackers had accessed customer information in that data breach, with nearly half of it's users affected. That leads us to tonight's claim submitted by viewer Paulina Alvarez
THE QUESTION
Is it true that 23andMe is granting settlement money to people whose information was affected by a data breach?
THE SOURCES
- Tony Sabaj, the Head of North American Channel, Check Point Software
- Justin Daniels, a Faculty member, IANS Research & Equity Partner, Baker Donelson.
THE ANSWER
TRUE
WHAT WE FOUND
Sabaj says yes, a class action settlement was decided in October of this year. Those who are eligible could receive $100, to as much as $10,000 if damage can be proved.
"And this is if the affected user can show the use of the stolen information has affected them beyond just having the information stolen," Sabaj said. "And then based on different state laws, the other one, the $100 settlement, is kind of the the average settlement."
So how do you know if you are eligible?
Daniels told us, "The best thing to do is do some research by reading various articles as well as going to the website. Because if you just try to read the court settlement and whatnot, they tend to be complicated and not so easy to understand for the average non-lawyer."
So yes, it is true. 23andMe is granting settlement money to people whose information was affected by a data breach.
Daniels says AI is changing the game when it comes to data breaches.
"We're now with the advent of A.I., we're really living in a time in our lives where our digital persona is really no different than locking the keys and the doors to our house," Daniels says. "So how do we start to treat our online identity? Just like we treat our house and our car with locking our doors and being smart who we let into and rummage around in our digital lives. That's why we need to shift our mindset because look at all the breaches that you're seeing."
Daniels recommends getting a password manager.
"Where you can put all your passwords in one place. I have an extra tip for you, which is have a password, and then at the end have another word or phrase that you know in your head. That way, if someone were able to hack into your password manager, they don't get the entire password for your most sensitive accounts," Daniels says.