Genetic testing company 23andMe said Monday that hackers were able to access the data of about 6.9 million people, far more than the company previously acknowledged.

The finding is the result of an investigation 23andMe launched in October, after at least one list of people whom the site identified as having Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry was posted online.

  • Mamertine@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    Oh, and you‘ll help your family members to be jailed, if somehow involved in criminal acts.

    The police have been using that data to solve crimes for years. That’s how they found the golden state killer and others.

    https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/dna-family-tree-help-solve-52-year-old-seattle-slaying/

    Public genealogy databases, which contain information from people who have obtained their DNA profiles from companies like 23andMe and Ancestry.com, have become a powerful police tool…

      • Mamertine@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        OMG that was terrible. I usually proof read before posting. I’ll get that cleaned up. Thanks for pointing that out.

        • DrunkenPirate@feddit.de
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          11 months ago

          Indeed. Now, publically available for every governmental police. Not the US only. Even Iranian or Saudi police. Hey wait, don’t they punish family members of political enemies?

          Seriously, once there were police men at my door asking for a DNA test by free will. There was a rape in my county and they asked every male. I wondered who‘s going to be that stupid and handing over police your DNA. Once its stored in a database…