23andMe Says Customers’ Health Data Was Included in Hack (1)

Some 6.9 million 23andMe customers had their data compromised after an anonymous hacker accessed user profiles and posted them for sale on the internet earlier this year, the company said on Monday.

The compromised data included users’ ancestry information as well as, for some users, health-related information based on their genetic profiles, the company said in an email.

Privacy advocates have long warned that sharing DNA with testing companies like 23andMe and Ancestry makes consumers vulnerable to the exposure of sensitive genetic information that can reveal health risks of individuals and those who are related to them.

In the case ...