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1000 Genomes Project

1000 Genomes Project Data Breach (2012)

1000 Genomes Project

lowVERIS
Disclosed

January 1, 2012

5199 days ago

Records

Undisclosed

Confirmed

Root Cause

Human Error

Industry

Technology

Description

The genetic data posted online seemed perfectly anonymous — strings of billions of DNA letters from more than 1,000 people. But all it took was some clever sleuthing on the Web for a genetics researcher to identify five people he randomly selected from the study group. Not only that, he found their entire families, even though the relatives had no part in the study — identifying nearly 50 people.