Struggling Care Worker Becomes Lord of $60 Million English Estate After DNA Test

Struggling Care Worker Becomes Lord of $60 Million English Estate After DNA Test Proves He’s an Heir

Dick Eastman · May 24, 2019 · People · One Comment

Did you ever wish to inherit a fortune from a rich uncle who had recently passed away? That happened to Jordan Adlard-Rogers. He received a roughly $60 million inheritance from an uncle that previously Adlard-Rogers was not certain was his relative.

Adlard-Rogers — who reportedly grew up in a council house and suffered long periods of financial hardship — has now quit his job and moved into the estate. The 1,536-acre Penrose Estate is said to be where King Arthur was mortally wounded and died.

You can read a lot more in an article by Phil Boucher in the People web site at: http://bit.ly/2JEZyq3.

23andMe is Updating Ancestry Results Without Telling Users

Dick Eastman · May 23, 2019 · DNA · 3 Comments

An article by Dan Robitzski in the Futurism.com web site at https://futurism.com/23andme-updating-ancestry-results states:

“If you took a genetic ancestry test through a company like 23andMe, you may want to go back and give your results a second look.

“That’s because as the company gathers more data and learns more about genetic trends, it may update the results for your specific DNA and change around where it believes your family came from, according to STAT News. While it makes sense that these companies would eventually hone in on more accurate results, the shifting reports can be a rude shock to people who used the app to figure out their personal identity — only to find, like 23andMe user Leonard Kim, that the results later shift without warning.”

This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who reads this newsletter. I wrote an article a few weeks ago that describes the same thing with Ancestry.com’s test results: the company’s DNA ethnic origins reports changed as more and more information was added to the company’s findings of ethnic origins. You can find my earlier report at http://bit.ly/2DN6o8y and a follow-up article at http://bit.ly/2HxniKH.

I had a similar “change of ancestry” with the findings of another DNA test from still another testing company. It seems that such “changes” in your ancestry are not unusual.
In fact, I suspect that every DNA testing company will occasionally change their reports of customers’ ethnic origins as each company adds more and more information to their databases of historic DNA and various human migration patterns.
If you had your DNA tested by ANY company, I would suggest you go back to the testing company’s web site every few months to see if there are any updates to your earlier test results. If so, you might want to trade in your German lederhosen for a Scottish kilt.

GEDmatch Implements Required Opt-In for Law Enforcement Matching

Dick Eastman · May 20, 2019 · DNA, Legal Affairs · No Comments

GEDmatch is an open data personal genomics database and genealogy website founded in 2010 by Curtis Rogers and John Olson. Its main purpose is to help “amateur and professional researchers and genealogists,” including adoptees searching for birth parents. However, it recently has also become “the de facto DNA and genealogy database for all of law enforcement,” according to The Atlantic’s Sarah Zhang.
GEDmatch recently gained a lot of publicity after it was used by law enforcement officials to identify a suspect in the Golden State Killer case in California. Other law enforcement agencies started using GEDmatch for violent crimes, making it one of the most powerful tools available for identifying “cold case” criminals.
Sadly, the same site also has generated a lot of controversy involving the lack of privacy of personal DNA information, both for the people who uploaded their own DNA data and especially for the relatives of the uploaders whose DNA information also was included without their permission and usually without their knowledge. Such blatant disregard for personal privacy may be a violation of privacy laws in many countries.
The GEDmatch owners have now tightened the web site’s rules on privacy. The result is expected to make it much more difficult for law enforcement agencies to find suspects.

Judy Russell, often referred to as “The Legal Genealogist,” has written an explanation of the issues involved and the reasons for the decision by the GEDmatch owners. Judy wrote:

“The new system fully conforms to all legal definitions of informed consent — particularly in light of the candid admission in the terms that GEDmatch can’t promise there won’t be new non-genealogical uses of the site someone figures out in the future that nobody is even thinking of today — and to the provisions of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as well.

“And it’s a good, right, ethical decision. Doing as much as any website can to protect the trust of genealogists that their DNA data will be used only for the purposes to which they personally consent leaves the entire field on firmer ethical ground.”

You can read a lot more in Judy Russell’s article at: https://www.legalgenealogist.com/2019/05/19/gedmatch-reverses-course/.

Ancestry.com is under Fire as new DNA Algorithm Drastically Changes the Ethnicity of Some Users

Follow-up: Ancestry.com is under Fire as new DNA Algorithm Drastically Changes the Ethnicity of Some Users

Dick Eastman · May 3, 2019 · DNA · 10 Comments

The following is a follow-up to my previous article at: http://bit.ly/2DN6o8y:
In the earlier article, I wrote:

“Ancestry.com is updating its databases and altering the results for some users. The new findings of ethnic origins has sent some users into a full-blown identity crisis. If you previously had your DNA tested by Ancestry and have already found your family’s ethnic origins, you might want to go back to the AncestryDNA web site and check again. The results may have changed.”

Some readers posted comments posted at the end of the article by newsletter readers questioned whether or not this was a new update to Ancestry.com’s DNA databases. However, that question seems to be cleared up by the following information written by the Ancestry Team and published in the Ancestry Blog at https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2019/05/02/understanding-your-new-ethnicity-estimate/ on May 2, 2019:

“Understanding Your New Ethnicity Estimate

“We’re always looking for new ways to help support our customers on their journeys of personal discovery. Often that means updating our products and services to take advantage of the most advanced science and technology.

“Last fall, we introduced the capability to provide more precise ethnicity estimates to our customers using an algorithm that analyzes longer segments of genetic information. For some of our existing customers, this has meant that previous ethnicity estimates have evolved as a result of this new technology.

“We recognize that an individual’s personal sense of identity is very important and that any journey of personal discovery may take turns that are surprising or unexpected. However, it is important to keep in mind that your DNA doesn’t change, but the science and technology behind understanding it constantly evolves and we endeavor to ensure that this cutting-edge science is reflected in our offerings.

“All AncestryDNA® customers who have not already transitioned to their new, more precise ethnicity estimate will be transitioned starting May 30, 2019. If you received your AncestryDNA® results prior to September 2018 and wish to keep a record of your prior results, you may download them by July 20, 2019.”