This kind of fatalism is the antithesis of proper legal thought and practice as it pertains to real harm.

Precedent is everything, the members of the class who drag down expectations for the rest of us are actively committing harm by denying a resolution to our collective claims. Solidarity is the sole responsibility of a class of people.

▲ toomuchtodo 43 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

I will allow my past comments to speak for themselves.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38857170

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38857228

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38857476

> I will eat crow if it comes to light that this was entirely unavoidable on 23andme's part. (me)

> You won’t have to. They could have forced MFA and been done with it. That doesn’t make it their fault that they didn’t. It just means they could have done better and assumed that at least some users (read: most) are ignorant about best practices with sensitive data. It’s not something they would be legally culpable for, though.

This class action and the £2.3M extracted by a UK regulator sure feels like legal culpability. There must be consequences, otherwise nothing will change. I accept some action vs no action, when perfect is out of reach. We are building systems, requiring constant tuning and improvement.

Closing the loop on this provides an immutable case study on this topic.

(i manage and am responsible for systems that protect enterprise and customer data for millions of customers at a fintech, I take this work seriously, because someone should; if you want better behavior, we need better legal tools to go after corporations for this)

▲ delichon an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

That might matter if 23andMe still had deep pockets, rather than being a bankrupt shell.

▲ tomrod an hour ago | parent [-]

Everyone who served on the board or worked for the company should be held liable, personally and in a piercing of the corporate veil.

Individuals had responsibility when they made these decisions. It is on the courts to make the victims whole, despite the shenanigans around corporate liability limits.

EDIT: I legitimately think that if we _don't_ hold individuals accountable for these sorts of data breaches of the most sensitive data imaginable then there is no sense to legal systems.

EDIT2: Assuming Gemini has any semblance of accurate information, here are some individuals to consider beginning with:

- Anne Wojcicki (Co-Founder, Chair of the Board)

    Estimated Net Worth: $150 Million - $270 Million (Note: Her net worth peaked significantly higher when 23andMe's valuation was high, but has been adjusted downward following the company's financial struggles and bankruptcy filing).

    Other Known Affiliations: Co-founder and board member of the Breakthrough Prize Foundation. Former wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin.

- Andre Fernandez (Independent Director)

    Estimated Net Worth: At least $1 Million (based on reported stock holdings as of late 2025).

    Other Known Affiliations: Former CFO of WeWork Inc. and NCR Voyix Corp. Serves on the board of Cardlytics.

- Jim Frankola (Independent Director)

    Estimated Net Worth: At least $18 Million (based on reported stock holdings in late 2025).

    Other Known Affiliations: Former CFO of Cloudera Inc. and Ariba. Serves as a Director and Audit Committee Chair for Ansys, Inc.

- Mark Jensen (Independent Director, Lead Independent Director)

    Estimated Net Worth: At least $12.7 Million - $19.1 Million (Note: Public records show different individuals with similar names and varying net worths; this estimate is based on the director with experience as CFO of RedLeaf, Lattice Semiconductor, and ForeScout, who served as a Director for Lattice Semiconductor Corp and holds a significant position at American Resources Corp).

    Other Known Affiliations: Previous Audit Committee Chair for companies like Lattice Semiconductor and ForeScout.

- Neal Mohan (Past Independent Director)

    Estimated Net Worth: Not widely disclosed, but as CEO of a major tech platform, his compensation is substantial.

    Other Known Affiliations: Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of YouTube.

- Roelof Botha (Past Independent Director)

    Estimated Net Worth: $1.5 Billion - $2 Billion (primarily due to his role as a successful venture capitalist).

    Other Known Affiliations: Partner at venture capital firm Sequoia Capital.

- Patrick Chung (Past Independent Director)

    Estimated Net Worth: Not widely disclosed; compensation for his director role was reported in 2024.

    Other Known Affiliations: Co-founder and Managing Partner at Xfund.

- Peter J. Taylor (Past Independent Director)

    Estimated Net Worth: Not widely disclosed; compensation for his director role was reported in 2024.

    Other Known Affiliations: President of Greatland Investment Group; former CFO and Executive Vice President of PG&E Corporation.

- Richard Scheller, Ph. D. (Past Independent Director)

    Estimated Net Worth: Not widely disclosed; compensation for his director role was reported in 2024.

    Other Known Affiliations: Former Chief Science Officer and Head of Research and Early Development at Genentech.

- Sandra Hernández, M.D. (Past Independent Director)

    Estimated Net Worth: Not widely disclosed; compensation for her director role was reported in 2024.

    Other Known Affiliations: CEO of the California Health Care Foundation.

- Valerie Montgomery Rice, M.D. (Past Independent Director)

    Estimated Net Worth: Not widely disclosed; compensation for her director role was reported in 2024.

    Other Known Affiliations: President and CEO of the Morehouse School of Medicine.

▲ delichon an hour ago | parent [-]

  William Roper: “So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!”

  Sir Thomas More: “Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?”

  William Roper: “Yes, I'd cut down every law in England to do that!”

  Sir Thomas More: “Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's! And if you cut them down, and you're just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!”

― Robert Bolt, A Man for All Seasons: A Play in Two Acts