Family tree and ancestry inference: is there a need for a ‘generational’ consent?

BMC Medical Ethics

Table 1 Characteristics of companies included in the analysis

Companies	Ancestry services based on self-reported data	Ancestry services based on a DNA sample	Ancestry services based on self-reported data and a DNA sample	Offers a Research Component in addition to other services
23andMe (23andMe Research)			√	√
African Ancestry		√
African DNA		√
Ancestry by DNA		√
Ancestry^a	√
AncestryDNA^a (Ancestry Human Diversity Project)			√	√
AncestryHealth^a (Ancestry Human Diversity Project)	√
Archives^b	√			√
Archives^b	√
DNA Testing Systems		√
DNA Tribes		√
Family Search	√
Family Tree DNA (various projects)			√
FamilyLink^b,c	√
Find My Past	√
Genes Reunited	√
Geni^b	√
MyHeritage^b,c	√
Oxford Ancestors		√
Roots for Real		√
The Genealogist^b	√
World Vital Records^b,c	√

^aAncestryDNA and AncestryHealth are subsidiaries of Ancestry
^bThese companies outsource DNA testing to other companies (FamilyLink, GENI and The Genealogist, World Vital Records use FTDNA; Archives use Ancestry; and MyHeritage uses FTDNA or 23andMe)
^cFamilyLink, GENI and World Vital Records are subsidiaries of MyHeritage

ISSN: 1472-6939