23andMe-data-opt-out

23andMe is facing dozens of lawsuits following a massive data breach that it announced late last year, including a suit filed by Edelson PC. 23andMe’s financial position has since suffered, with the company risking being delisted from the Nasdaq because of its low stock price.¹

While under these pressures, 23andMe’s CEO suggested that the company would share users’ genetic information with third parties for "research" purposes, allowing both 23andMe and “other groups” that it partners with to “mine the dataset” that 23andMe has accumulated.²

We believe that broadly sharing user genetic data would violate several state laws. So we asked 23andMe a number of questions about the scope of this data-mining program, who it intended to share data with, and how it would protect users. 23andMe refused to answer our questions or address our concerns. Instead, 23andMe says that users can opt out of data sharing and that this is just an expansion of an already-existing program.

While we will pursue legal claims regarding any unlawful sale or disclosure of users' information, we are concerned about any impending fire sale of users' data. We are therefore providing instructions for people to opt out of third party data sharing below. These easy-to-follow steps are in the video below, or you can follow the screenshots.

The attorneys appointed as interim class counsel to lead the litigation regarding 23andMe's data breach have established a case website, where they will post important case documents, transcripts, and case updates. Because that website exists, we will not separately post documents here.

footnote details[1] ¹Ashley Capoot, 23andMe considers splitting up company to revive stock price, CNBC (Feb. 8, 2024),

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/08/23andme-considers-splitting-up-company-to-revive-stock-price-.html.

²Emily Mullin, 23andMe Is Under Fire. Its Founder Remains ‘Optimistic’, WIRED (Feb. 12, 2024), https://bit.ly/3OHbGqr (“We now have the ability to mine the dataset for ourselves, as well as to partner with other groups.”); Thomas Germain, 23andMe Admits ‘Mining’ Your DNA Data Is Its Last Hope, GIZMODO (Feb. 13, 2024), https://gizmodo.com/23andme-admits-mining-your-dna-data-is-its-last-hope-1851252582.

Name Email Phone When did you create a 23andMe account? Comments - If you'd like to speak with an attorney, please note that here. No attorney-client relationship is being formed by submitting this form.

By submitting this form, I affirm that I am genuinely interested in contacting an Edelson PC attorney directly related to my role as a potential member of the class or as an authorized representative of a potential class member. I further affirm that I am not submitting this form at the direction of, or for the benefit of, 23andMe or any other law firm involved in this case besides Edelson PC. I understand that submitting this form under false pretenses or with the intent to interfere with or undermine the litigation process may result in legal consequences.

a. The “23andMe Research Consent Document” purportedly allows 23andMe to include your de-identified genetic data in a pool of data with other research participants that could be shared with GSK and any other third-parties that it agrees to.³

b. “Research opportunities based on your unreported genetics” purportedly allows 23andMe to contact you about studying “unreported” DNA variants that are not included in your 23andMe genetic reports.⁴

c. The “Individual Data Sharing Consent” purportedly allows researchers access to de-identified genetic data “related to a single person”—i.e., your genetic information, as well as certain other self-reported information provided to 23andMe.⁵

d. The “Personalized Recommendations Consent” does not appear to relate to third-party sharing, but instead to recommendations made by 23andMe.⁶

Attorney Advertising Material

23andMe Pharmaceutical Research Opt-Out Instructions

Important Links

What’s going on with 23andMe?

If you would like to discuss this case with an attorney from Edelson PC, fill out our contact form.

Changing 23andMe Account Sharing Settings

Instructions