{"id":278015,"date":"2026-06-21T19:02:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T23:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/21\/23andme-settlement-shows-what-privacy-is-really-worth-information-age\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T19:20:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T23:20:07","slug":"23andme-settlement-shows-what-privacy-is-really-worth-information-age","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/21\/23andme-settlement-shows-what-privacy-is-really-worth-information-age\/","title":{"rendered":"23andMe settlement shows what privacy is really worth | Information Age"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ia.acs.org.au\/article\/2026\/23andme-settlement-shows-what-privacy-is-really-worth.html\">23andMe settlement shows what privacy is really worth | Information Age<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ia.acs.org.au\/article\/2026\/23andme-settlement-shows-what-privacy-is-really-worth.html\">https:\/\/ia.acs.org.au\/article\/2026\/23andme-settlement-shows-what-privacy-is-really-worth.html<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Publish Date: <a href=\"publish_date]\">2026-06-21 19:02:00<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Source Domain: <a href=\"ia.acs.org.au\">ia.acs.org.au<\/a><\/p>\n<p>A 2023 data breach compromised the DNA data of millions of 23andMe customers. Image: Shutterstock<\/p>\n<p>For all the talk about the value of personal data and the importance of protecting it, a newly announced US settlement for the mass data breach of genetic testing firm 23andMe shows just how much your privacy is actually worth: about the price of a cup of coffee.<\/p>\n<p>The 7 million customers of the genetic testing company \u2013 which was once worth $8.5 billion ($US6 billion) but tanked after its clients\u2019 personal DNA data was posted online in a major 2023 data breach \u2013 will share a settlement fund worth $46.2 million ($US32.5 million).<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s an average of $6.60 ($US4.64) per user.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a far cry from the figure floated by claims administrator Kroll after a preliminary settlement in January, when litigants were pursuing damages of $68.2 billion ($US48 billion) and Kroll promised \u201cup to $14,200 [$US10,000]\u201d each.<\/p>\n<p>The final amount, just 0.07 per cent of that original claim, shows how much protracted legal haggling diluted the settlement \u2013 with a US Bankruptcy Court ruling calling the figure \u201cwithin the range of reasonableness\u201d given 23andMe was in \u201cdesperate financial condition.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While conceding the amount is \u201cmodest relative to the scale of the data breach,\u201d the court ruled that \u201cgiven the magnitude of the [$US48 billion] recovery contemplated, prompt resolution\u2026 is essential\u2026 to bring the claims reconciliation process to an orderly conclusion.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Litigating the original figure, the court noted, \u201cwould expose the estates to protected, high-stakes litigation lasting months, if not years, requiring extensive discovery and the expenditure of millions of dollars\u2026 far better preserved for the benefit of stakeholders.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That \u201cbenefit\u201d, as it turns out, is an average payout that\u2019s about enough to buy a latte at your favourite caf\u00e9 \u2013 and a slap in the face for privacy regulators threatening to excoriate tech firms&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ia.acs.org.au\/article\/2026\/23andme-settlement-shows-what-privacy-is-really-worth.html\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>23andMe settlement shows what privacy is really worth | Information Age https:\/\/ia.acs.org.au\/article\/2026\/23andme-settlement-shows-what-privacy-is-really-worth.html Publish Date: 2026-06-21&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":278016,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/ia.acs.org.au\/content\/dam\/ia\/article\/images\/2026\/23andme%20office%20sign%20shutterstock%201.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[30],"class_list":["post-278015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-privacy","tag-breach"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278015"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=278015"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278015\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":278017,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278015\/revisions\/278017"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/278016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=278015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=278015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=278015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}