The DNA Privacy Checklist

DNA testing is a research tool, and research tools work through permissions: who may compare with a kit, what a match may see, what may be downloaded, and whether the kit can participate in a particular kind of matching.

For genealogists, those choices shape the evidence environment. You may want the widest cousin network because you are trying to identify a great-grandparent. You may want matches to see shared segment positions because chromosome work is central to your method. You may manage an elderly relative’s kit and need to know whether that person—not merely you—understands each permission.

There is no single correct configuration. The purpose of a privacy review is to make the settings match the test-taker’s actual choices.

Treat this checklist like a source audit. Open each account. Read the current wording. Record what you select. Review it again when a platform changes its terms, when you transfer a raw file, when you add a collaborator, or when the purpose of the project changes.

Menu labels can change. The paths below reflect the companies’ published instructions as reviewed for this guide. When your screen differs, stop and read the live explanation before selecting an option.

1. GEDmatch

GEDmatch is an upload-and-comparison platform. Its controls distinguish ordinary genealogy, unidentified-human-remains work, and—in some settings—matching used to investigate violent-crime perpetrators.

Where to look

Sign in and open the kit’s privacy or management controls. For a new upload, review the privacy category shown during upload. GEDmatch currently describes four broad categories: Public + Opt-In, Public + Opt-Out, Personal Research, and Private.

Checklist

• Confirm the kit identity. Match the kit number, alias, test-taker, and your private records.
• Review public versus private status. A public kit participates in comparisons permitted by its category. A private kit has much more limited matching use.
• Review violent-crime matching. Public + Opt-In permits comparison with qualifying investigative profiles submitted through GEDmatch PRO.
• Understand Public + Opt-Out. GEDmatch says this excludes perpetrator identification for violent crimes, but the kit may still be compared in unidentified-human-remains work.
• Read Personal Research carefully. Confirm which one-to-one comparisons and tools remain available under the live wording.
• Check the alias and contact details visible to matches.
• Record the decision and date. Example: “Kit A123456 reviewed July 18, 2026; Public + Opt-Out selected by test-taker.”

An investigative match is a lead, not proof. Identity must still be tested through records, conventional investigation, and direct DNA confirmation.

Official references: GEDmatch privacy and security; GEDmatch privacy options; GEDmatch PRO.

2. FamilyTreeDNA

FamilyTreeDNA separates ordinary genetic-genealogy matching from Investigative Genetic Genealogy Matching, or IGGM.

Where to look

Open Account Settings → Privacy & Sharing. Review profile, matching, origins-sharing, project, and IGGM controls for the intended kit.

Checklist

• Review ordinary matching. Confirm whether the kit is opted in and which match levels can see it.
• Review the match profile. Check the name, email, surnames, earliest known ancestors, tree, and other self-reported information.
• Review contact visibility. FamilyTreeDNA says that if an IGGM participant matches a forensic kit, the forensic-kit manager may see the profile name and email. Other information depends on sharing settings.
• Find the IGGM choice. Decide separately whether the kit may participate in approved investigative matching.
• Read the qualifying-use description. FamilyTreeDNA says requests are reviewed under its Law Enforcement Guide.
• Review origins, segment information, and project participation.
• Record ordinary matching and IGGM as two separate decisions.

Ordinary matching makes the kit available to eligible genealogical matches. IGGM adds participation in the company’s approved investigative matching system.

Official references: Privacy and sharing preferences; IGGM introduction; Law Enforcement Guide.

3. Ancestry

Ancestry provides controls for DNA matching, display, management, downloading, and deletion. It also states that law enforcement and people working on its behalf may not use Ancestry’s services to investigate crimes or identify human remains.

That platform rule is not the same as saying customer information can never be reached through legal process.

Where to look

Go to Profile → Account Settings → DNA, then select the test.

Checklist

• Confirm the test name and assigned person.
• Review DNA Matches. Decide whether the test should find and be found by participating matches.
• Review the display name.
• Review tree linking. Check the linked tree, its privacy status, and treatment of living people.
• Review the test manager. Confirm who controls the test.
• Review collaborator and viewer access. Remove access that is no longer needed.
• Review optional research consent separately from cousin matching.
• Know where download and deletion controls are. Preserve external copies only with the test-taker’s permission.

Ancestry’s current policy prohibits investigative use of its platform. Its law-enforcement guidance separately says the company evaluates valid legal demands for customer information.

Official references: AncestryDNA privacy; Ancestry Privacy Center; Guide for Law Enforcement.

4. 23andMe

At 23andMe, the main genealogy visibility decision is participation in DNA Relatives. The feature is optional; customers who do not opt in are not displayed to other customers as DNA Relatives.

Where to look

Open the DNA Relatives privacy and display settings. Also review general privacy, research-consent, sharing, security, download, and deletion controls.

Checklist

• Review participation in DNA Relatives.
• Review the display name. The platform permits a name, initials, or a combination.
• Review profile details. Check profile sex, image, surnames, family locations, and any genealogical text.
• Understand basic match visibility. Participating matches may see the predicted relationship, shared-DNA percentage, and number of shared segments.
• Review direct connections and added sharing individually.
• Review research consent separately.
• Review account security and recovery details.
• Check whether raw-data copies exist outside the platform and who holds them.

DNA Relatives controls ordinary relative discovery. 23andMe says it scrutinizes law-enforcement requests and responds only to legal demands it considers valid. It does not describe DNA Relatives as a customer-facing IGG opt-in system like GEDmatch’s or FamilyTreeDNA’s.

Official references: DNA Relatives privacy and display settings; Law-enforcement requests.

5. MyHeritage

MyHeritage provides controls for DNA Matching, shared-segment visibility and downloading, DNA badges in trees, and optional research consent.

Law-enforcement use — verified finding: MyHeritage expressly prohibits law-enforcement and forensic use of its DNA Services absent a court order. Its Terms and Conditions (Last Updated April 19, 2026) state, verbatim: “Any use of the DNA Services for law enforcement purposes, forensic examinations, criminal investigations, or to identify human remains is strictly prohibited, unless a court order is obtained. It is our policy to resist law enforcement inquiries to protect your privacy.” Its Privacy Policy (Last Updated June 1, 2026) lists as a key principle, verbatim: “MyHeritage prohibits law enforcement use of its DNA Services,” and adds: “We will not provide information to law enforcement unless we are required by a valid court order or subpoena, and in that case, we would seek to limit the scope of the court order or subpoena.” There is no customer-facing investigative-matching opt-in; the “Enable DNA Matching” control below governs matching with other MyHeritage users, not a law-enforcement lane.

Where to look

Click your name in the upper-right corner, choose My Privacy, then My DNA preferences. Select the correct kit where kit-specific controls appear.

Checklist

• Review “Enable DNA Matching on MyHeritage.” MyHeritage says it is enabled by default and permits comparison with other participating users.
• Understand disabling matching. The company says existing matches are removed and recalculated if matching is later restored.
• Review “Allow DNA Matches to view shared DNA segments and download shared DNA segment data.” This is also described as enabled by default.
• Understand the tradeoff. Turning segment sharing off limits chromosome-browser functions for kits you manage.
• Review DNA badges in family trees.
• Review the DNA Informed Consent Agreement. This concerns deidentified, aggregated research use by the MyHeritage Science Team; it is separate from cousin matching.
• Review every managed kit rather than assuming one choice covers all test-takers.
• Invite the test-taker to view results where appropriate.

These controls govern ordinary matching, segment sharing, tree badges, and research participation. Separately, and unlike GEDmatch or FamilyTreeDNA, MyHeritage offers no investigative-matching toggle: its Terms and Privacy Policy prohibit law-enforcement and forensic use of the DNA Services unless a court order is obtained.

Official references: DNA privacy options; Shared-segment controls; Managing several kits; Terms and Conditions (Apr. 19, 2026); Privacy Policy (Jun. 1, 2026).

Kits You Manage for Relatives

A managed kit is not merely another research asset. It represents another person, and a setting changed in your account may expose that person’s matches, contact details, tree connections, or segment information.

• Explain the purpose before testing or uploading.
• Name every intended platform. Permission to test at one company is not automatic permission to upload elsewhere.
• Discuss ordinary matching separately from investigative matching.
• Explain what matches may see: names, email, trees, surnames, locations, shared amounts, segment positions, and downloadable files.
• Ask before adding collaborators, project administrators, or professional researchers.
• Write down the decision. A dated email is better than memory.
• Make withdrawal practical. Explain how the test-taker can request a settings change or deletion.
• Revisit consent after major policy, ownership, security, or project changes.
• Use special care for minors and deceased test-takers. Follow platform rules and applicable law; document authority rather than assuming possession equals unlimited permission.
• Return direct access where possible. MyHeritage, for example, recommends that adults activate their own kits and allows a manager to invite a test-taker to view results.

A useful consent record answers three questions: Where is my DNA? What can it do there? Who controls it?

What No Setting Controls

No privacy menu eliminates targeted legal process. A company may prohibit investigative use, offer an opt-out, or report that it has not disclosed DNA data to law enforcement; those policies do not erase subpoenas, warrants, court orders, or other legally valid demands. Companies differ in what they require, how they review requests, whether they challenge them, and whether notice is legally permitted. Settings still matter because they control ordinary matching, visibility, downloads, research participation, and—in some databases—investigative comparison.

The Point of the Choice

Investigative genetic genealogy can restore a name to someone who was buried without one and give investigators direction after conventional searches have failed. Our case files follow that work from the laboratory and family tree to the moment a person is named in life again—while keeping the line between an investigative lead and courtroom proof clear. For the larger method, read How DNA Remembers, the companion guide from Cassian Creed and Neural Edge Publishing.

Keep reading: The Five Steps of Forensic Genetic Genealogy · Database Permission Comparison · The Names Genetic Genealogy Gave Back · the glossary.