Federal Judge Preliminarily Approves Settlement in 23andMe Data Breach MDL

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A California federal judge has preliminarily approved a settlement of litigation arising from an October 2023 data breach that compromised the sensitive personal information of customers of genetic testing and analysis platform owner 23andMe.

In a Dec. 4 order, Judge Edward M. Chen of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California also certified a settlement class comprised of 23andMe customers who were subject to the data breach, ruling that it meets the numerosity, predominance and superiority requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23.

The settlement agreement provides for both monetary relief (including the …