Privacy

How does project participation affect my privacy? faq id: 397
Where can I find Family Tree DNA's Privacy Policy? faq id: 2090
What are the Private matches on my match lists? How do I contact these matches? faq id: 2091
What information about my matches will you provide? What of my personal information will they see? faq id: 2092

Questions and Answers

How does project participation affect my privacy? faq id: 397

Joining a project does expose some identifying information about you to the group project administrator. It may also expose non-identifying information about you through the project's Public Project Website (should it have one).

The group project administrator can see your results. They can view some of the information listed in your myFTDNA account such as your contact information. The group project administrator will not be able to see your password.

Projects often set up a website on which member results are posted. How these results are identified is up to the group project administrator. Results are often listed by the participant's oldest known ancestor, kit number, or last name. You may wish to discuss what information will be available on the project's website before joining a project.

TermsOfService
Where can I find Family Tree DNA's Privacy Policy? faq id: 2090

At Family Tree DNA, we include our Privacy Policy as part of our Terms of Service. It as well as links to our participation in the Safe Harbor Agreement are here. (http://www.familytreedna.com/privacy-policy.aspx)

TermsOfService
What are the Private matches on my match lists? How do I contact these matches? faq id: 2091

The private matches on match lists in myFTDNA accounts are those customers who, although they have signed the consent agreement, have opted out of matching either at one or more testing levels or exclusively to one or more group projects. Due to their account settings, Family Tree DNA Customer Service cannot see additional information about them or share it with you.

TermsOfService

What information about my matches will you provide? What of my personal information will they see? faq id: 2092

The information we show your genetic cousins is a combination of both your genetic matching information and genealogical information you add to your account. Both help you and your match find your common ancestors. The information shown also varies with the test or tests you take. The following table shows what information is on the matching and advanced matching pages for each type of DNA test. Under the table are descriptions of each type of information.

	myFTDNA Page
*This is additional information added by you or one of your matches. It is optional but highly recommended.
**The Advanced Matching page shows mtDNA and Y-DNA information where you or your match have taken the relevant tests. For example, if your Family Finder match has taken an mtDNA Full Sequence test, Y-DNA67 test with a SNP test, and a Family Finder test, you will see their mtDNA and Y-DNA haplogroup information as well as your Family Finder matching information on this page.
	Family Finder Matches	mtDNA Matches	Y-DNA Matches	Advanced Matching	Chromosome Browser
Name	X	X	X	X	X
E-mail	X	X	X	X	X
Tests Taken	X	X	X	X
Download of Match Information	X	X	X	X
Personal Profile*	X	X	X	X	X
Family Tree (GEDCOM)*	X	X	X	X
Most Distant Maternal Ancestor*		X		X
Most Distant Paternal Ancestor*			X	X
Genetic Information
Degree of Relatedness	X	X	X	X	X
Y-DNA Haplogroup			X	X**
Y-DNA Terminal SNP			X	X**
Inferred Y-DNA STR Values				X
mtDNA Haplogroup		X		X**
Inferred mtDNA mutations		X		X
Matching Autosomal Segments	X				X
Matches 'In Common With'	X			X	X
Matches 'Not In Common With'	X			X	X
Download of Autosomal Segment Information	X				X

Name: This is you or your matches' name. Unless you turn off matching at one or more testing levels or in the case of Y-DNA restrict matching to within your group projects, your first and last name are shown to all genetic matches. If you have signed the matching consent but have restricted matching, only your last name is shown.

E-mail: This is you or your matches’ e-mail address. It is the primary e-mail address for the account.

Tests Taken: This shows which of the three standard test types (Family Finder, mtDNA, and Y-DNA) you or your match has taken and the testing level.

Download of Match Information: There are options on each matching page to download information about matches. This is for personal reference. You should not be redistribute it or upload it to other websites.

Personal Profile: This is additional information about you and your genealogical research interests you add on the Personal Profile page of myFTDNA.

Family Tree (GEDCOM): This is a pedigree chart showing of ancestors. You currently add it by uploading a file in the GEDCOM format.

Most Distant Maternal Ancestor: This is the most distant known ancestor on one’s direct maternal line (mother, grandmother, great grandmother, etc.).

Most Distant Paternal Ancestor: This is the most distant known ancestor on one’s direct paternal line (father, grandfather, great grandfather, etc.).

Degree of Relatedness: MtDNA matches are exact or almost exact. Genetic Distance indicates the quality of Y-DNA matches. Family Finder matches use calculated relationship ranges.

Y-DNA Haplogroup: When you or a match has taken a Y-DNA Haplogroup determining test, this information is included on the Advanced Matching page.

Y-DNA Terminal SNP: When you or a match has taken a Y-DNA Haplogroup determining test, this information is included on the Advanced Matching page.

Inferred Y-DNA STR Values: We do not show actual Y-DNA STR values to your matches. However, they may infer all or part of them by the quality (genetic distance) of the match.

mtDNA Haplogroup: When you or a match have taken an mtDNA test, the haplogroup is included on the Advanced Matching page.

Inferred mtDNA mutations: Because mtDNA matching is restricted to genealogically exact matches, your matches may infer that you and they share the same mutations.

Matching Autosomal Segments: You and your matches may see the places where you and they match exactly for a significant length of one chromosome in a pair.

Matches 'In Common With': These are matches shared by you and your match. Currently, your match needs to have assigned a Known Relationship to enable this tool or you need to have a confirmed Known Relationship.

Matches 'Not In Common With': These are matches not shared with a selected match. Currently, your match needs to have assigned a Known Relationship to enable this tool or you need to have a confirmed Known Relationship.

Download of Autosomal Segment Information: You and your matches may download files with the chromosome matching information where you and they match exactly for a significant length of one chromosome in a pair.

Note: When you or a match belong to a group project, much of this information is also shared with the relevant project administrators. This is both through the project administration interface and through the administrators' ability to view the myFTDNA account pages of their project members.