After Prominent Hack, DNA Company 23andMe Gives Users Just 30 Days To Opt Out of Anti-Class-Action Waiver

If you’re tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The personal genomics and biotech firm 23andMe has been grappling with a cybersecurity dilemma that initially came to light on October 6th. And not only has security been revealed as a major issue but the company’s response to the breaches has also been alarming. Notably, by October 19th, it had been revealed that there was a second breach conducted by the same culprit who took responsibility for the initial one. Astonishingly, they stated that they now had access to over 4 million genetic profile records. In a startling disclosure on December 4th, the overall fallout from this intrusion affected 6.9 million users. As first discovered on Hacker News, in the midst of this crisis, 23andMe has decided to revise its Terms of Service (TOS), thus requiring users to agree to binding arbitration, a process in which disputes are settled beyond conventional court settings. An arbitrator, a neutral party, oversees the process and issues the final, unappealable settlement. This adjustment to the TOS aims to hasten dispute resolution, a tactic widely employed in situations like consumer contracts, labor disputes, as well as business conflicts. As per the updated TOS, clients who have grievances will need to liaise with the company’s customer service team as the first point of contact to resolve the issue without legal proceedings. Arbitration takes precedence over lawsuits if this initial negotiation period, which lasts 60 days, fails to resolve the problem….After Prominent Hack, DNA Company 23andMe Gives Users Just 30 Days To Opt Out of Anti-Class-Action Waiver