Gedmatch for dummies

[bm_ftdna]

Pardon the newbie question, please.

I understand that if I upload my DNA data to Gedmatch, I can compare with results of those who’ve tested with other companies, and generally do more flexible calculations, including comparisons with any test kit in their database, not just those that FTDNA says I match. Do I have that right?

I gather from reading elsewhere that there are potential privacy concerns with uploading one’s DNA data into third party tools such as Gedmatch. I am trying to understand what those are. What specifically can someone do with my DNA data that would be harmful to me? Or is the idea that we don’t even know yet whether someone could do something harmful with that data, given that consumer DNA testing is still a relatively new area?

Thanks.

[prairielad]

Pardon the newbie question, please.

I understand that if I upload my DNA data to Gedmatch, I can compare with results of those who’ve tested with other companies, and generally do more flexible calculations, including comparisons with any test kit in their database, not just those that FTDNA says I match. Do I have that right?

.....

Yes, their data base comprises of FTDNA, 23andme and Ancestry testers.

........

I gather from reading elsewhere that there are potential privacy concerns with uploading one’s DNA data into third party tools such as Gedmatch. I am trying to understand what those are. What specifically can someone do with my DNA data that would be harmful to me? Or is the idea that we don’t even know yet whether someone could do something harmful with that data, given that consumer DNA testing is still a relatively new area?

Thanks.

Depends what your privacy concerns are....

My opinion is that it is not that big of a concern when certain precautions are taken.

For one, FTDNA raw data does not contain any sensitive health data SNPs.

Two, test only tests around 700,000 base pairs of your entire Genome of around 3 billion base pairs.
Of this 3 billion 99.9% is identical in everyone, so that leaves around 3 million that is unique to you and your ethnicities (.1% of 3 billion)
That means only around 24% of your unique base pairs are tested and supplied in Raw Data (700000 divided by 3 million = 23.33%)

What I am getting at, in my opinion, is not much can be gained from this approximately 23% uploaded to Gedmatch, other then a picture of your ethnicity, and maybe some non relevant health info.

In regards to identifiable information on who the kit holder is, if you take minimal precations this can be addressed also in what the public sees.

- You can use a alias for kit holders name
- email address is shown, I recommended to have a separate email account for genealogy sites other then your regular email
- Raw Data results are not viewable/accessable by the public (base pair values)
- Matches do see your kit number
- Matches are given the same type of data you get when you match some at FTDNA. ie start/stop points, where matching segments are in comparison to chromosome (Chromosome Browser)
-General public can not see you unless they match you or know you kit number.
-If kit number is known by someone, they can then run admixture tools on kit.

[bm_ftdna]

I'm so new at this I don't even know what privacy concerns one might have, hence the question.

Thanks for the comprehensive reply - it's very helpful.