Failing to report autosomal information!

[Jim Barrett]

I have been involved in DNA testing since 2002. I have test results at 23andMe, Ancestry, FTDNA and MyHeritage. Of these Ancestry is the only company to withhold chromosome mapping. Both Ancestry and FTDNA withhold, what I feel is a very important part of shared match information. For example, when I look at my shared matches, both 23andMe and MyHeritage tell me how I (person A) may be related to my match (person B), how I may be related to a shared match (person C) and how person B may be related to person C. I find this third bit of information to be very helpful when I try to place the shared match in my tree. Ancestry and FTDNA both tell person B how they may be related to person C. Why don't they tell me how person B is related to person C?

[John McCoy]

Most likely this omission in FTDNA's autosomal matching reports stems from privacy concerns, especially after the European Union issued regulations on personal privacy. However, the fact that other vendors have been able to provide this information, apparently without incurring the wrath of the EU bureaucracy, suggests that there is no real impediment to reports of this kind, provided the individuals involved have given sufficient permission to have their DNA data used in detecting genealogical relationships.

The shared matches reporting by MyHeritage (which includes identification of triangulating segments) has proved extremely useful in assigning new matches to known triangulation groups, and also for spotting matches (some, as reported by MyHeritage, involving single segments up to 65cM!) that appear to be spurious, in that they don't triangulate with anything.

[Jim Barrett]

If MyHeritage is doing it they must not think it violates the European Union issued regulations on personal privacy, as you point out. I have found the additional information from both 23andMe and Ancestry to be very helpful.

[StefG]

I have been involved in DNA testing since 2002. I have test results at 23andMe, Ancestry, FTDNA and MyHeritage. Of these Ancestry is the only company to withhold chromosome mapping. Both Ancestry and FTDNA withhold, what I feel is a very important part of shared match information. For example, when I look at my shared matches, both 23andMe and MyHeritage tell me how I (person A) may be related to my match (person B), how I may be related to a shared match (person C) and how person B may be related to person C. I find this third bit of information to be very helpful when I try to place the shared match in my tree. Ancestry and FTDNA both tell person B how they may be related to person C. Why don't they tell me how person B is related to person C?

I don't believe it has anything to do with EU privacy regulations. FTDNA never provided that information (i.e. how person B is related to person C) at any point in the past, even long before EU GDPR was introduced in 2016. Funnily enough 2016 was also the year that MyHeritage started offering DNA tests and allowing uploads from other vendors. And nowadays they have one of the largest databases of European customers. They provided that information right from the outset. They didn't roll out their chromosome browser until 2 years later if I recall correctly, but one thing they did implement is the option for people to opt out of segment matching. But why? Another site, based in the EU (Geneanet) has no option whatsoever to opt out of segment matching! You always get to see your matches' segments, which would be odd if that's against EU GDPR.

Personally I think things like 'how person B is related to person C' or segment matching should be enabled for everyone who agrees to take such DNA tests. Nowadays I have so many excellent matches at MyHeritage from Germany versus other sites (I'm half German), but so many hide their segment information, which is a real blow for genetic genealogy.