2024 was a year chock-full of data breaches and privacy violations. Many new data privacy and cybersecurity regulations were introduced (and became effective), and regulators sent a strong message to businesses that privacy must be at the forefront of their strategy and goals and that robust security controls are required to protect employee and consumer
23andMe
Privacy Tip #385 – 23andMe Sends Letter to Data Breach Victims that Suing Over Breach is Futile
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Data Breach, Privacy Tips
We previously alerted readers to the fact that the most recent data compromise of 23andMe exposed data related to Ashkenazi Jews and individuals of Chinese descent. It is reported by Ars Technica, citing TechCrunch, that “nearly half of 23andMe’s 14 million users’ [information] was hacked,” estimated at 6.9 million users.
23andMe is notifying affected users.
Privacy Tip #378 – Bad Actors Selling Data of 23andMe Users of Ashkenazi Jewish and Chinese Descent
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Privacy Tips
We previously reported on the unfortunate data breach suffered by 23andMe last month and its implications. We never imagined how horrible it could be.
According to an October 6, 2023, posting by Wired earlier that week, hackers involved with the 23andMe breach posted “an initial data sample on the platform BreachForums…claiming that it contained 1…
23andMe Confirms Threat Actors Accessed Accounts Without Authorization
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Data Privacy
We have published blog posts before on sharing genetic information and the risk associated with the disclosure of such sensitive information.
Unfortunately, our concerns have been realized. On Monday, October 9, 2023, 23andMe confirmed that its investigation into a data security incident involving customer profile information shared through its DNA Relatives feature “was compiled from…
Changing the Conversation About Sharing and Using Health Information
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Some app developers know more about our health than our doctors do. Take, for instance, FitBit, which is attached to our wrist and measuring in real time our temperature, our heart rate, our steps and whether we have had enough exercise for our age in a day.
Some people sleep with their phones on their…
Privacy Tip #191 – Trying to Protect Your Medical Information—Let’s Ask Questions About Data Security
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Privacy Tips
In the top three of the list of highly sensitive personal data to be concerned about is our medical information. It’s so sensitive because it is so personal. It used to be that our medical information was located in paper charts at our doctor’s office, the hospital, the pharmacy and our health insurer. Now it’s…
Has Investigative Genealogy Become the Wild, Wild West?
By Kathleen Dion on
Posted in Enforcement + Litigation
DNA technology has assisted law enforcement in identifying criminals for decades. The U.S. National DNA Database System stores the DNA data of millions of criminals, and allows law enforcement officers around the country to compare and match forensic evidence in this central repository. This closed universe of DNA only contains data from individuals arrested or…