DNA testing

[VF21]

I recently had my DNA tested by Ancestry.com and I have one word of warning to anyone who is thinking of doing it. If you do, be prepared to be contacted by at least one distant relative who all of a sudden wants to be your bestest friend in the whole wide world. This guy is a 4th to 6th cousin (I haven't actually compared his tree yet to see which distant ancestor we share) but he seems to think I want to know all about him and his life, his research, etc. He's flooded my inbox with at least a dozen messages a day.

There were some interesting aspects to the test, including the breakdown of my ethnicity. I'm primarily a combination of Scandinavian and Irish. I'm interpreting that to explain my interest in Vikings and Wicca.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

Creepy. Isn't there some way to opt out of people being able to contact you?

 

[itzcoatl]

http://www.businessinsider.com/privacy-considerations-for-dna-tests-23andme-ancestry-helix-2017-12

Yes I was dissuading a relative from doing that recently. As a tin-foil hat privacy person, it’s quite frightening to me that the DNA is stored in databases and shared with pharmaceutical companies. Yes it is technically “anonymized” but DNA is so unique it can’t ever really be truly anonymous.

 

[SacTownKid]

He didn't say he was a Nigerian prince did he?

 

[VF21]

Creepy. Isn't there some way to opt out of people being able to contact you?

I'm hoping to dissuade him by terse responses, leading eventually to total silence on my end.

 

[VF21]

http://www.businessinsider.com/privacy-considerations-for-dna-tests-23andme-ancestry-helix-2017-12

Yes I was dissuading a relative from doing that recently. As a tin-foil hat privacy person, it’s quite frightening to me that the DNA is stored in databases and shared with pharmaceutical companies. Yes it is technically “anonymized” but DNA is so unique it can’t ever really be truly anonymous.

I don't care about that at all. DNA may be unique but it's almost impossible to deduce who a particular person is if you don't have a sample to match to. I am still glad I did it, I just wish I hadn't been so quick to respond to this guy's first message. As far as allowing your DNA results to be stored/used, that's an option you either agree to or decline at the time you send in for the test kit. You're asked again when your results are available.

He didn't say he was a Nigerian prince did he?

No. And, at least thus far, he hasn't tried to get me to invest in any time shares.

 

[eMBarkat10n]

I recently had my DNA tested by Ancestry.com and I have one word of warning to anyone who is thinking of doing it. If you do, be prepared to be contacted by at least one distant relative who all of a sudden wants to be your bestest friend in the whole wide world. This guy is a 4th to 6th cousin (I haven't actually compared his tree yet to see which distant ancestor we share) but he seems to think I want to know all about him and his life, his research, etc. He's flooded my inbox with at least a dozen messages a day.

There were some interesting aspects to the test, including the breakdown of my ethnicity. I'm primarily a combination of Scandinavian and Irish. I'm interpreting that to explain my interest in Vikings and Wicca.

Out of curiosity, was there a specific reason behind you getting your DNA tested? Or was this just one of those, "I'm curious, therefore I am going to do it to see what comes out of it" deals?

 

[VF21]

Out of curiosity, was there a specific reason behind you getting your DNA tested? Or was this just one of those, "I'm curious, therefore I am going to do it to see what comes out of it" deals?

I was/am interested in genealogy. I've been doing research for about 8 years and have run into a couple of brick walls. Getting my DNA results was one way to possibly develop some new leads (which it did) and also confirm/deny some old family legends (which it did).

 

[pdxKingsFan]

I met a sister I didn't know about who had done 23andme or whatever it was.

Although unless my brother also had testing I am pretty sure she just figured out who we were on facebook or my mom contacted her. I probably should be more curious about the results but as an adoptee I've always enjoyed just filling in my own story from the fuzzy one page background sheet I have (the more I learn the more I hate my birth family).