Sept 13 (Reuters) - 23andMe will pay $30 million

and provide three years of security monitoring to settle a

lawsuit accusing the genetics testing company of failing to

protect the privacy of 6.9 million customers whose personal

information was exposed in a data breach last year.

The accord also resolves accusations that 23andMe did not

tell customers with Chinese and Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry that

the hacker appeared to have specifically targeted them, and

posted their information for sale on the dark web.

A preliminary settlement of the proposed class action was

filed late Thursday night in federal court in San Francisco, and

requires a judge's approval.

It includes cash payments for customers whose data was

compromised, and lets customers enroll for three years in a

program known as Privacy & Medical Shield + Genetic Monitoring.

In a Friday court filing, 23andMe called the settlement

fair, adequate and reasonable.

Citing its "extremely uncertain financial condition,"

23andMe also asked the judge to halt arbitrations by tens of

thousands of class members, until the settlement is approved or

they decide not to participate.

In a statement, 23andMe said it believes the settlement is

in its customers' best interest. It also expects about $25

million of the cost to be covered by cyber insurance coverage.

The breach began around April 2023 and lasted about five

months, affecting nearly half of the 14.1 million customers in

23andMe's database at the time. It was disclosed by 23andMe in

an October 2023 blog post.

According to the company, the hacker accessed 5.5 million

DNA Relatives profiles, which let customers share information

with each other, and accessed information for another 1.4

million customers who used a feature called Family Tree.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs said the settlement addressed

their clients' main claims, and reflected significant risks of

further litigation given 23andMe's "dire" finances.

The South San Francisco-based company lost $69.4 million on

revenue of $40.4 million in the quarter ending June 30.

Co-founder and Chief Executive Anne Wojcicki has been trying

to take 23andMe private, three years after it went public at $10

per share. Its shares have traded below $1 since mid-December.

The plaintiffs' lawyers may seek legal fees of up to 25% of

the settlement amount.

The case is In re 23andMe Inc Customer Data Security Breach

Litigation, U.S. District Court, Northern District of

California, No. 24-md-03098.