Have You Taken A DNA Ethnicity Test?

[+ honcho]

Under the Affordable Care Act, it is unlawful to use a genetic predisposition to deny coverage or to charge a higher premium. Before the ACA, the practice was illegal in some states but not in others.

 

I'm sure this provision did not escape the attention of the Trump adminstration, whose actions seem to maximize businesses profit potential at the expense of consumer protections.

[Rudynate]

I'm sure this provision did not escape the attention of the Trump adminstration, whose actions seem to maximize businesses profit potential at the expense of consumer protections.

 

 

But the state law provisions probably remain in place.

[+ sniper]

I worked in insurance for years. Even if they can't explicitly rate you based on it, they can choose to market to you or not based on it and cherry-pick their customers. Say you have fantastic genes that tell them your rate should be 50% LOWER than average - they'll come knocking on your door, send you some swag, tell you about the plan they don't advertise, etc.

[MikeBiDude]

Correct. But also consider is the Ancestry et al database any better protected than say Experian? Target?

 

I’m am so NOT a conspiracy theorist, but somehow this one strikes me as a future loose canon.

 

Bumping and quoting my own post, re: DNA privacy

https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/27/health/golden-state-killer-genetic-privacy/index.html

Edited April 28, 2018 by MikeBiDude

[+ Pensant]

Found out I have 5 % Greek and 5% Italian with my 90% Eskanazi Jew. I love this stuff. I watch Finding Your Roots all the time.

Do you mean Ashkenazi?

[+ Pensant]

I had a 23 and me profile done. It was very interesting. There has always been talk in our family of a native American ancestor generations ago. Based on circumstances, it did seem possible. But the 23 and me profile said my genetic information was 100% European. One native American I mentioned this to said that the assays available to consumers may not have been sensitive enough to detect the native American sequence(s). Otherwise, there were no surprises. My ancestry on the 23 and me profile came out exactly as expected.

In the South, it seems 60% of blue-eyed white people I meet claim to be part Cherokee.

[Beancounter]

https://splinternews.com/cops-are-asking-ancestry-com-and-23andme-for-their-cust-1793851927

 

Apparently ancestry.com and 23and me will turn your DNA results over to law enforcement under certain circumstances.

 

Law enforcement recently used an ancestry research site’s DNA results to find the Golden State serial killer in California. Turns out he was a former police officer. It appears a relative of the alleged serial killer submitted his/her DNA and enough markers matched previously collected DNA from the suspect to make an arrest.

 

I guess DNA is fair game for law enforcement.

[MartyB]

Do you mean Ashkenazi?

You are correct. Thanks

[Rudynate]

In the South, it seems 60% of blue-eyed white people I meet claim to be part Cherokee.

 

I had a friend years ago who had red hair and blue eyes and was able to document sufficient native ancestry that he got a regular check for his share of the tribe's oil royalties.

[+ sniper]

There was quite a bit of intermarriage between whites and tribes back in the day. I have some rather Anglo-looking friends who actually grew up on reservations and were leaders in their tribe.

[+ Avalon]

Law enforcement recently used an ancestry research site’s DNA results to find the Golden State serial killer in California. Turns out he was a former police officer. It appears a relative of the alleged serial killer submitted his/her DNA and enough markers matched previously collected DNA from the suspect to make an arrest.

 

I guess DNA is fair game for law enforcement.

 

I think in some places convicted felons are required to submit DNA.

[Guest]

I received one of those Nat Geo tests as a Christmas present from my brother and sent it in. I'm now a bit sorry I did. Not only does the information I received contradict a lot of known information from our family's genealogy, but the ancestry purported to myself was quite different from that of my sister's. I suppose it's possible my mother slept around, but my sister and I look a lot like each other and our parents.

[coriolis888]

How exactly does the test reveal a cousin? They send you names of other customers who appear similar to you? That's not keeping your information private.

 

 

You sign a release with the agency in order for your DNA to be tested by them.

 

Does it really matter if your information is kept private? Is there anymore privacy left in the world?

 

Not very much -

[+ sniper]

I received one of those Nat Geo tests as a Christmas present from my brother and sent it in. I'm now a bit sorry I did. Not only does the information I received contradict a lot of known information from our family's genealogy, but the ancestry purported to myself was quite different from that of my sister's. I suppose it's possible my mother slept around, but my sister and I look a lot like each other and our parents.

Siblings only share on average 50% of genetic material. That leaves a lot of room for different genes to have been inherited by each. Your DNA makeup is NOT the percent of ancestry you have, it's which chromosomes won the coin tosses that led to you. You could have 50% Italian ancestry but come up 75% on these tests, while a sibling only comes up 30%.

[amused1]

A number of my family members have taken the test, mom, her 1st cousins, and a few 2nd cousins.

 

We had already traced mom's family to the German/French border in the 15th century through traditional means.

 

The test results were interesting. A number of N. African markers as well as Spanish and Portuguese.

 

Perhaps a wayward sailor ended up inland? Haha

 

During our traditional search we did find a few interesting tidpits. Church records of children we never knew about and a few byblows that had been rumored about.

[samhexum]

Have You Taken A DNA Ethnicity Test?

 

[+ Avalon]

And now your DNA is accessible by law enforcement

 

When I was young and worked for a mortuary as an apprentice embalmer I had to be fingerprinted. I guess that they are still on file somewhere.

 

 

The British were in India for 250 years. It's entirely possible that if you have British antecedents there could have been an Indian link in there somewhere. Those liaisons happened and are not always remembered beyond a few generations. In less enlightened times I can remember older people (such as my grandmother, who was born in 1893) referring to others having 'a touch of the tar brush' meaning they allegedly had some indigenous ancestry. The timeframe in Australia is far shorter than the British history in India, and there are first Australians who know of, and identify with their ethnicity but do not 'appear' to be indigenous. As noted above, there is also the possibility that it's an error in the margins of the test.

 

I thought maybe Romani / Gypsy. There are some in Britain.

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

Have you ever read the TOS when submitting a sample for the test? It reads like War and Peace.

 

I'm fine taking educated guesses.

[+ Pensant]

When they say 1 or 2% anything take it with a huge grain of salt. They are looking at markers that are much more common in particular areas, not necessarily exclusive to those areas.

Yes. Those .001 % North African reports are artifacts, most likely.

[BigK]

Interesting point. I once had a white female coworker who told me that she had Chinese heritage. She said that centuries ago the Emperor of China had sent an embassy to Europe. But it had taken so long to get there that one member of the delegation decided not to return. That was her ancestor.

 

A little Australia trivia. In the 19th century there was an American tycoon named Leland Stanford. His brother decided to go to Australia to seek his fame and fortune. He had planned to return to the USA but on the sea voyage to Australia he got so seasick that he could not face making a return voyage so he remained in Australia.

 

as in Stanford University

[+ Avalon]

as in Stanford University

 

Yes.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_University

[marylander1940]

A number of my family members have taken the test, mom, her 1st cousins, and a few 2nd cousins.

 

We had already traced mom's family to the German/French border in the 15th century through traditional means.

 

The test results were interesting. A number of N. African markers as well as Spanish and Portuguese.

 

Perhaps a wayward sailor ended up inland? Haha

 

During our traditional search we did find a few interesting tidpits. Church records of children we never knew about and a few byblows that had been rumored about.

 

The Spanish monarchy from the XVI to the XVIII century controlled many territories from northern Italy to Spanish Netherland (Belgium now). From 1580 to 1640 Spain and Portugal formed the Iberian Union. 10 to 20% of Spaniards have Muslim and Jewish background, one of the inspirations of the black legend was antisemitism.

[BasketBaller]

As I expected, my results were mostly British Isles with a bit of Western Europe (French Canadian great-grandfather), and a small amount of Northern Europe (maybe Viking invaders in Ireland?) But there were trace percentages of Iberian, Italian/Greek, and Middle Eastern, which I have decided to believe comes from Roman Legionnaires from when Britain was part of the empire. I'm sticking to that!

 

Interestingly, Ancestry.com also identifies groups you may be related to, and mine was French Canadians railroad workers in New England, which is correct.