A bankruptcy judge just approved a $46.75 million settlement payout to the millions of 23andMe users impacted in a major data breach.
Back in 2023, a data breach exposed the sensitive personal data of almost 7 million 23andMe users, equaling roughly half of all the company’s customers. The leaked data included personal profile data as well as genetic information.
Since the breach became public information, things have been going steadily downhill for the company. The genetic testing company filed for bankruptcy in March 2025 and was sold later that year to a new owner, a nonprofit led by 23andMe co-founder and former CEO Anne Wojcicki. The parent company of the DNA testing service is now officially known as Chrome Holding Co.
A class action lawsuit followed the 2023 breach, and a settlement to pay out between $30 million and $50 million to impacted users was reached earlier this year. 23andMe customers impacted by the breach received notice to apply for the settlement in January, and the final deadline was in February.
So far, only $14.29 million has been paid out to victims of the breach, per Reuters. Earlier last month, the bankruptcy administrator and the plaintiffs agreed on a final payout amount of $46.75 million. On Tuesday, a bankruptcy judge in St. Louis, Missouri, approved that deal, meaning that there is now $32.46 million more that can be distributed.
But the legal fallout of the 2023 data breach is still not over. Roughly a month ago, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that his office had filed a lawsuit against 23andMe’s successor company, Chrome Holding Co. In the lawsuit, Bonta’s office claims that the company had failed to take adequate measures to protect sensitive data and ignored known system vulnerabilities ahead of the 2023 data breach. The lawsuit also alleges that 23andMe lied to users about the severity of the breach.
Under the new lawsuit, the California AG is seeking millions in civil fines. But Chrome Holding asked the bankruptcy court to halt the California AG’s legal challenge, and the judge has yet to rule on that motion.
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