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What Happens After Surprising DNA Test Results? (bloombergquint.com)
schwit1 shared an interesting article from Bloomberg:
Though genetic tests are frequently marketed as family-friendly entertainment, they sometimes wind up surfacing life-altering surprises. And when those surprises show up in someone's test results, the first move is often a call to customer service.... At 23andMe, those types of calls are so frequent that preparing for them is integrated into the company's months-long training program.... "We always try to steer the conversation toward the data, tell them that this is science," said Kent Hillyer, head of customer care for the genetic-testing firm 23andMe...
Lindsay Grove, a customer-care representative at 23andMe, still remembers one call in particular years later, a dad who took the test only to find out that his child was not, in fact, his child. At first, like most, he was just trying to figure out whether the results were accurate. So Grove explained the science behind the data. The customer then became somber and quiet. He questioned whether he should talk to his wife, and, if he did, how.... "That process of figuring out what to do next is very difficult for customers...."
Such emotional calls can take a toll on employees, too. That's perhaps inevitable when technology interfaces with such sensitive, personal information.... At 23andMe, Hillyer often encourages representatives to go for a walk after an intense call, or cracks open a bottle of wine to help them decompress. "We kind of do these internal therapy sessions,'' he said. "Here, maybe more so than most places, you have to be really supportive of each other."
Lindsay Grove, a customer-care representative at 23andMe, still remembers one call in particular years later, a dad who took the test only to find out that his child was not, in fact, his child. At first, like most, he was just trying to figure out whether the results were accurate. So Grove explained the science behind the data. The customer then became somber and quiet. He questioned whether he should talk to his wife, and, if he did, how.... "That process of figuring out what to do next is very difficult for customers...."
Such emotional calls can take a toll on employees, too. That's perhaps inevitable when technology interfaces with such sensitive, personal information.... At 23andMe, Hillyer often encourages representatives to go for a walk after an intense call, or cracks open a bottle of wine to help them decompress. "We kind of do these internal therapy sessions,'' he said. "Here, maybe more so than most places, you have to be really supportive of each other."
Some white supremacists discover they are not quite _that_ white.
In case you have forgotten, last year there was a big scandal about 23andme employees adding african ancestry to test results to "screw with the racists": http://www.cracked.com/persona...
It's been a bit of a problem in their community since a sizable chunk of their leadership's been forced out by it.
Who has been forced out? Do you have a citation?
According to PBS, alt-right groups do not cast out people with "non-white" DNA. They instead question the validity of the results, and there are conspiracy theories that the DNA labs are telling many people that their DNA is "mixed" to push their liberal agenda that "we are all the same".
Also, they may not be as bigoted as you think. The founder of the Aryan Brotherhood is a Jew.
Disclaimer: I am white, but my wife and kids are not.
My sister had my dad tested since although we're stereotypically Asian, our family's eyes are slightly rounder. She thought we might have a European ancestor somewhere in our genealogy. The test results came back 50% Hungarian, 40% Scandinavian. The biggest Asian component was 0.6% Japanese. Our best guess is the sample was contaminated, or they accidentally swapped with someone else's sample. But the company insisted they were accurate and that they never made mistakes.
I feel really sorry for people whose lives might be turned upside down by an erroneous test result, because they believe a company which is trying to preserve the marketability of their product by insisting they can't make mistakes. Given that 23andMe claims 5 million users, even a 99.99% accuracy rate means 500 customers were given erroneous results.
If experience has taught me anything it's that to decompress something you usually need pkunzip.
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She claimed to be native American, and specifically Cherokee.
The test results show that over 99% of her DNA is European. In other words, she's about as white as they come. Very close to the average UK citizen.
The results further indicate that most likely, she had a single great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparent from South America, Central America, or North America.
So 6-10 generations back, one Mexican or whatever. That hardly supports her long-held claim "I'm Cherokee". Notably, after the results, the tribe made it a point to come out and say that as far as they are concerned, she's definitely not Cherokee.
Maybe people don't like being lied to. It's not necessarily about the child. Having a child is a big step, and a responsibility that most men take seriously. Is it too much to ask that one doesn't lie to a man about the paternity of their child?
30% of paternity tests, not 30% of paternity tests done for a random selection of children ...
Do they deal with law enforcement?
You bet they do. That's why it's dangerous to give them your DNA. In fact you may inadvertently be compromising the genetic privacy of your children, their children, your nieces and nephews and their children, etc. All of them can be tracked down from the data point that you unwittingly provided. This is how the government tracked down the Golden State Killer and now that this new capability has been demonstrated it's only a matter of time before it becomes cheaper, faster and more widely available until every small police department has access to it and every incentive to use your DNA against you and your loved ones. The government is cunning, deceitful and untrustworthy. You cannot trust them or their intentions. Please consider carefully the consequences beyond your own privacy before you buy one of these genetic testing kits. The value of the information that you get from these services is minimal and the consequences may end up being worse than you ever imagined. If you thought Facebook was bad then just imagine what the government might do with your genetic information. Just say no to genetic testing this holiday season. It's not worth it.
30% of paternity tests, not 30% of paternity tests done for a random selection of children ...
Yes. They have done studies on "incidentally" taken genetic tests like looking for compatible donors and in the population as a whole it's probably somewhere between 0.5-3%. This is largely consistent with anonymous surveys indicating about 2% of women got pregnant at a time they had multiple sexual partners, some of which would have the "right" dad. It's not one in a million odds but that 30% figure is a myth that never dies.
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
I know someone who found out their "sister" was actually their mother. It took some time to work out what was going on, but it turned out her biological father raped his daughter long ago, got her pregnant and made her agree to hide it. The victim admitted to this when confronted by her sister/daughter with the genetic test results.
The family is quite freaked out. The old guy is dead but everyone is kind of wrecked right now. There's worse things than finding out your spouse cheated on you. Much worse things.
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23andMe, which this article deals with, does not (voluntarily) co-operate with law-enforcement. Of course, if they get a court order, they will have to, but to do date they've never been asked for DNA data and haven't had to give out any personal data requested: https://www.23andme.com/transparency-report/
23andMe also does not allow comparison of samples tested outside 23andMe against their own database, the same goes for AncestryDNA. The only reason the GSK case was solved was because those people had purposefully transferred their DNA data into GEDMatch, whose technology and terms of service specifically allowed for matching against this sort of data.
It's alleged that many users of GEDMatch had not read or understood the Term of Service (likely) but others had uploaded their DNA data into GEDMatch specifically for these kinds of purposes. It remains a controversial topic in DNA testing circles not the least because it can implicate distant relatives, but to date merely testing at 23andMe or AncestryDNA hasn't caused anybody to become "police informant", they've had to take complicated actions where they're warned of this sort of possibility every step along the way (Or allowed somebody else to do it for them) to participate in law enforcement DNA searches.
On the other hand, in most of the world USA included law enforcement can legally collect DNA samples from pretty much everybody and construct their own, private DNA database. The law enforcement DNA databases even currently dwarf 23andMe's database in size. The only reason consumer DNA tests were useful in GSK case were because the culprit was beyond suspicion due to being an ex cop and had never had his DNA taken by law enforcement.
But anyway, the short answer is that no, 23andMe does not "deal" with law enforcement unless forced to, which they've never yet been.