I remember when GEDMatch adopted its opt-in policy after some controversy following resolution of the Golden State Killer case. Ancestry should do the same, because most GEDMatch users were enthusiastic about opting in solely to assist law enforcement.
December 8, 2025 at 12:36 PM
I remember when GEDMatch adopted its opt-in policy after some controversy following resolution of the Golden State Killer case. Ancestry should do the same, because most GEDMatch users were enthusiastic about opting in solely to assist law enforcement.
Thank you so much, will do. Happy to do likewise! My uncle has tested, she was his 3x great grandmother, & my sister has tested too. We are all on Gedmatch
December 10, 2025 at 8:59 AM
Thank you so much, will do. Happy to do likewise! My uncle has tested, she was his 3x great grandmother, & my sister has tested too. We are all on Gedmatch
Let me know if you'd like GedMatch numbers for our Dibney descendants to compare against.
December 9, 2025 at 4:16 AM
Let me know if you'd like GedMatch numbers for our Dibney descendants to compare against.
How cool! Just went to Gedmatch for the first time in a few years. I'm related to Otzi the Iceman!
Kennewick man and Clovis, now Otzi.
Kennewick man and Clovis, now Otzi.
October 20, 2025 at 5:57 PM
How cool! Just went to Gedmatch for the first time in a few years. I'm related to Otzi the Iceman!
Kennewick man and Clovis, now Otzi.
Kennewick man and Clovis, now Otzi.
Victim #5 of John Wayne Gacy, Francis Wayne Alexander, was identified in 2021, over forty years after his discovery in Gacy's crawlspace. They extracted DNA from a tooth and were able to track him back through GEDmatch. He was 21 or 22 when he was killed.
#morbidminute
www.cnn.com/2021/10/25/u...
#morbidminute
www.cnn.com/2021/10/25/u...
John Wayne Gacy victim identified through DNA from tooth | CNN
Francis Wayne Alexander’s remains were found more than 40 years ago in the crawl space of infamous serial killer John Wayne Gacy’s home.
www.cnn.com
November 2, 2024 at 7:13 PM
Victim #5 of John Wayne Gacy, Francis Wayne Alexander, was identified in 2021, over forty years after his discovery in Gacy's crawlspace. They extracted DNA from a tooth and were able to track him back through GEDmatch. He was 21 or 22 when he was killed.
#morbidminute
www.cnn.com/2021/10/25/u...
#morbidminute
www.cnn.com/2021/10/25/u...
With new terms of use going into effect at GEDmatch, the DNA tools site remains a place where you pays your money... and you takes your chances. #Genealogy #DNA
Link to post: www.legalgenealogist.com/2024/11/22/o...
Link to post: www.legalgenealogist.com/2024/11/22/o...
Of money and chances
New terms of use at GEDmatch In the wake of two class-action lawsuits alleging violations of user privacy, the DNA website GEDmatch has announced changes to its terms of use, effective today, that wor...
www.legalgenealogist.com
November 22, 2024 at 3:19 PM
With new terms of use going into effect at GEDmatch, the DNA tools site remains a place where you pays your money... and you takes your chances. #Genealogy #DNA
Link to post: www.legalgenealogist.com/2024/11/22/o...
Link to post: www.legalgenealogist.com/2024/11/22/o...
Now, full disclosure - I can't do a DNA test (yet) so I don't think I can comment on this too much but it appears to me that with GEDMatch being a popular tool in genetic genealogy, it seems to have gotten a negative reputation re. privacy concerns...
November 16, 2024 at 7:42 PM
Now, full disclosure - I can't do a DNA test (yet) so I don't think I can comment on this too much but it appears to me that with GEDMatch being a popular tool in genetic genealogy, it seems to have gotten a negative reputation re. privacy concerns...
I feel like I'm going insane reading this. Barbara Rae-Venter used her personal MyHeritage account in late 2017 to identify Joseph DeAngelo, Jr., and then the DA, local law enforcement, and FBI lied about getting the hit on GedMatch. I wrote about the legal issues years ago--nobody cares at all.
February 27, 2025 at 6:48 PM
I feel like I'm going insane reading this. Barbara Rae-Venter used her personal MyHeritage account in late 2017 to identify Joseph DeAngelo, Jr., and then the DA, local law enforcement, and FBI lied about getting the hit on GedMatch. I wrote about the legal issues years ago--nobody cares at all.
Ah yes, the magic checkbox that does nothing.
https://theintercept.com/2023/08/18/gedmatch-dna-police-forensic-genetic-genealogy/
https://theintercept.com/2023/08/18/gedmatch-dna-police-forensic-genetic-genealogy/
Police Are Getting DNA Data From People Who Think They Opted Out
Forensic genetic genealogists skirted GEDmatch privacy rules by searching users who explicitly opted out of sharing DNA with police.
theintercept.com
November 28, 2023 at 10:54 PM
Ah yes, the magic checkbox that does nothing.
https://theintercept.com/2023/08/18/gedmatch-dna-police-forensic-genetic-genealogy/
https://theintercept.com/2023/08/18/gedmatch-dna-police-forensic-genetic-genealogy/
You can upload your DNA to Gedmatch and download your tree and join Ancestry.
It has health information and you know in this day and age people can figure out how to screw someone with that information.
It has health information and you know in this day and age people can figure out how to screw someone with that information.
March 27, 2025 at 4:16 AM
You can upload your DNA to Gedmatch and download your tree and join Ancestry.
It has health information and you know in this day and age people can figure out how to screw someone with that information.
It has health information and you know in this day and age people can figure out how to screw someone with that information.
Revisiting the “Are Your Parents Related Tool” at GEDmatch
Most cultures have taboos against close relatives marrying (or mating with) one another. While some royal lineages historically used intra-family marriages to consolidate power, there are generally consequences. The practice is known to…
Most cultures have taboos against close relatives marrying (or mating with) one another. While some royal lineages historically used intra-family marriages to consolidate power, there are generally consequences. The practice is known to…
Revisiting the “Are Your Parents Related Tool” at GEDmatch
Most cultures have taboos against close relatives marrying (or mating with) one another. While some royal lineages historically used intra-family marriages to consolidate power, there are generally consequences. The practice is known to increase the risk of genetic problems in offspring. That’s because most genetic disorders only manifest when the individual has two copies of a “faulty” gene, one inherited from each parent.
thednageek.com
August 27, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Revisiting the “Are Your Parents Related Tool” at GEDmatch
Most cultures have taboos against close relatives marrying (or mating with) one another. While some royal lineages historically used intra-family marriages to consolidate power, there are generally consequences. The practice is known to…
Most cultures have taboos against close relatives marrying (or mating with) one another. While some royal lineages historically used intra-family marriages to consolidate power, there are generally consequences. The practice is known to…
Yes. Ancestry and 23&me. Uploaded to Myheritage and Gedmatch.
November 21, 2024 at 9:24 AM
Yes. Ancestry and 23&me. Uploaded to Myheritage and Gedmatch.
Verogen secretly misusing genetic information shared with GEDmatch? Shocking. Who could have predicted it? No one.
(yes, sarcastic)
www.classaction.org/news/gedmatc...
(yes, sarcastic)
www.classaction.org/news/gedmatc...
GEDmatch Illegally Sends Illinois Users’ Genetic Data to Facebook, Class Action Lawsuit Says
A class action claims the operator of GEDmatch.com has violated an Illinois privacy law by secretly sharing users’ genetic information with Facebook.
www.classaction.org
October 25, 2024 at 9:58 PM
Verogen secretly misusing genetic information shared with GEDmatch? Shocking. Who could have predicted it? No one.
(yes, sarcastic)
www.classaction.org/news/gedmatc...
(yes, sarcastic)
www.classaction.org/news/gedmatc...
Q3 #genchat The DNA service landscape is already changing (23&Me, Gedmatch). How might this impact how we use DNA in our research? @genchat@a.gup.pe
December 14, 2024 at 2:29 PM
Q3 #genchat The DNA service landscape is already changing (23&Me, Gedmatch). How might this impact how we use DNA in our research? @genchat@a.gup.pe
Forensic genetic genealogy now clears far more Doe (unknown remains) cases than suspect ones. That's almost entirely due to one company.
The grey shading marks the 20-month period when users at GEDmatch had to opt in to Doe matching.
substack.com/@leahlarkin/...
The grey shading marks the 20-month period when users at GEDmatch had to opt in to Doe matching.
substack.com/@leahlarkin/...
Leah Larkin on Substack
From 2018 through 2022, forensic genetic genealogy cleared more criminal cases than Does (unknown remains). That changed in late 2022, when Doe cases overtook criminal ones. In the first seven month...
substack.com
December 12, 2024 at 7:26 PM
Forensic genetic genealogy now clears far more Doe (unknown remains) cases than suspect ones. That's almost entirely due to one company.
The grey shading marks the 20-month period when users at GEDmatch had to opt in to Doe matching.
substack.com/@leahlarkin/...
The grey shading marks the 20-month period when users at GEDmatch had to opt in to Doe matching.
substack.com/@leahlarkin/...
I am the adopted son of an adopted father (yeah, 2 generations adopted out). I obviously had a lot of questions that couldn't be answered any other way. I'm also on Ancestry, MyHeritage, GEDmatch...
Years later, I'm deleting as much as I can before 23&Me implodes and sells user data. 🤷♂️
Years later, I'm deleting as much as I can before 23&Me implodes and sells user data. 🤷♂️
December 1, 2024 at 8:30 PM
I am the adopted son of an adopted father (yeah, 2 generations adopted out). I obviously had a lot of questions that couldn't be answered any other way. I'm also on Ancestry, MyHeritage, GEDmatch...
Years later, I'm deleting as much as I can before 23&Me implodes and sells user data. 🤷♂️
Years later, I'm deleting as much as I can before 23&Me implodes and sells user data. 🤷♂️
Thanks for this breakdown. I'm in the middle of reading Who They Were: Inside the World Trade Center DNA Story: The Unprecedented Effort to Identify the Missing by Robert C. Shaler (2005). CODIS is like going to a different planet compared to GEDMatch etc.
www.google.com/books/editio...
www.google.com/books/editio...
Who They Were
In Who They Were, Dr. Robert C. Shaler, the man who directed the largest and most groundbreaking forensic DNA investigation in U.S. history, tells with poignant clarity and refreshing honesty the stor...
www.google.com
June 15, 2024 at 7:44 PM
Thanks for this breakdown. I'm in the middle of reading Who They Were: Inside the World Trade Center DNA Story: The Unprecedented Effort to Identify the Missing by Robert C. Shaler (2005). CODIS is like going to a different planet compared to GEDMatch etc.
www.google.com/books/editio...
www.google.com/books/editio...
Researchers performed genetic analysis & ruled out Capt/Sir George Yeardley. Who belongs to the 400+y/o remains discovered in the #historicJamestowne grave? Is he your relative? They need to run his DNA through the genealogy sites, like #MyTrueAncestry & gedmatch
archaeology.org/news/2025/01...
archaeology.org/news/2025/01...
News - DNA Study Rules Out Possible Identity for Burial at Jamestown - Archaeology Magazine
JAMESTOWN, VIRGINIA—WHRO.org reports that an attempt to identify remains unearthed inside the chancel of a […]
archaeology.org
January 21, 2025 at 2:04 AM
Researchers performed genetic analysis & ruled out Capt/Sir George Yeardley. Who belongs to the 400+y/o remains discovered in the #historicJamestowne grave? Is he your relative? They need to run his DNA through the genealogy sites, like #MyTrueAncestry & gedmatch
archaeology.org/news/2025/01...
archaeology.org/news/2025/01...
Everyone’s talking about the ancestry ethnicity estimate update but that has always been the least part of Ancestry for me. I’m all about matches and tree building. And encouraging people to upload their results to Gedmatch and FamilyTreeDNA!!
October 10, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Everyone’s talking about the ancestry ethnicity estimate update but that has always been the least part of Ancestry for me. I’m all about matches and tree building. And encouraging people to upload their results to Gedmatch and FamilyTreeDNA!!
She likely misconstrued some things. DNA from unidentified remains & crime scenes can’t be uploaded to Ancestry - only to GEDmatch or FamilyTreeDNA - so she wouldn’t match there.
The “worldwide database” might mean GEDmatch or CODIS, but her mom’s comparison was likely through CODIS.
The “worldwide database” might mean GEDmatch or CODIS, but her mom’s comparison was likely through CODIS.
December 1, 2024 at 1:52 AM
She likely misconstrued some things. DNA from unidentified remains & crime scenes can’t be uploaded to Ancestry - only to GEDmatch or FamilyTreeDNA - so she wouldn’t match there.
The “worldwide database” might mean GEDmatch or CODIS, but her mom’s comparison was likely through CODIS.
The “worldwide database” might mean GEDmatch or CODIS, but her mom’s comparison was likely through CODIS.
Getting DNA from Letters, Stamps, Etc. Genetic Legacies (formerly Keepsake DNA) is now testing artifacts from deceased ancestors to upload to GEDMatch. https://buff.ly/3BmucBl #DNAtesting #Genealogy #GeneticGenealogy #GEDMatch
Genetic Legacies
buff.ly
December 20, 2024 at 4:00 PM
Getting DNA from Letters, Stamps, Etc. Genetic Legacies (formerly Keepsake DNA) is now testing artifacts from deceased ancestors to upload to GEDMatch. https://buff.ly/3BmucBl #DNAtesting #Genealogy #GeneticGenealogy #GEDMatch
Today is a great day because the ICW tool is back on the Gedmatch matchlist
January 8, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Today is a great day because the ICW tool is back on the Gedmatch matchlist
If you take your data package to GEDMatch, you can get more in-depth info (and actually check for inbreeding, lol, and nifty stuff, too).
December 11, 2024 at 7:04 PM
If you take your data package to GEDMatch, you can get more in-depth info (and actually check for inbreeding, lol, and nifty stuff, too).