New Conditions of Use and Privacy Policy for SMGF site

Two new updates have been made to the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation website in the last week.

1) New Conditions of Use which took effect from 15th January:

www.smgf.org/terms.jspx

2) A new Privacy Policy which similarly took effect from 15th January (retrieved from the Wayback Machine):

https://web.archive.org/web/20130122122334/www.smgf.org/privacy.jspx

The Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation was acquired by Ancestry.com in March 2012.  Ancestry have previously indicated that the SMGF site "will continue to operate for the foreseeable future". However, in October 2012 it was announced that Ancestry was to be acquired by the European private equity firm Permira. The sale was completed in December 2012.

It remains to be seen what will happen to the SMGF database now that ownership has effectively passed from Ancestry to Permira. The forms on the SMGF website clearly state that the database is now owned by AncestryDNA but do not mention the acquisition by Permira. The terms of the new conditions suggest that in future it will probably be necessary to "register for an AncestryDNA account in order to access certain services".

The new Privacy Policy allows for the sale or transfer of SMGF assets:

As our business continues to grow, we might buy or sell subsidiaries or business units. In these transactions, personal information is often one of the transferred assets. Also, in the event that AncestryDNA, or substantially all of its assets are acquired, personal information will, as a matter of course, be one of the transferred assets.

If you have submitted a DNA sample to SMGF I would suggest you review the new Conditions of Use and Privacy Policy. It should be noted that you have the right to remove your DNA record from the SMGF database. Instructions can be found on the SMGF Consent Form which specifically states:

Participation in this study is strictly voluntary. You may choose not to participate. You also have the right to end your participation at any time, and to decide whether the biological sample, genetic information, or genealogy you provided can remain part of the study or must be destroyed.

The consent form can be found here: 

https://web.archive.org/web/20120721015714/www.smgf.org/resources/forms/ConsentForm_English.pdf 

[The original link is no longer accessible. The above link now points to the consent form dated May 2008 retrieved from the Wayback Machine.]

The consent form also states: "You will be told about any new information that might change your decision to be in this study."

As far as I am aware SMGF participants have not yet received any communications from AncestryDNA or Permira to advise them of the sale, the new Privacy Policy and the changed Conditions of Use. I hope this situation will soon be rectified.

© 2013 Debbie Kennett

Update on SMGF and GeneTree

In May this year Ancestry.com announced the launch of their new autosomal DNA testing service. The launch was also accompanied by the news that Ancestry had acquired the DNA assets of the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation (SMGF). The full press release from Ancestry can be seen here. Although not mentioned in the press release the DNA assets acquired by Ancestry also included the DNA testing company GeneTree, which was the commercial arm of SMGF. GeneTree is now no longer accepting orders for DNA kits and the website will be closed down at the end of the year. Anyone who has tested with GeneTree is encouraged to download their results and transfer them elsewhere. GeneTree has provided instructions here on how to download your data.
GeneTree Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) results can be transferred free of charge to AncestryDNA. You will need to set up a free Ancestry account if you don't already have one to upload your results. Y-DNA results can also be transferred free of charge to Ysearch, a free public database of Y-DNA results. mtDNA results can be uploaded free of charge to Mitosearch. Both Ysearch and Mitosearch are sponsored by Family Tree DNA but accept results from all testing companies and allow you to search the databases for matches.

Only a small proportion of FTDNA customers upload their results to Ysearch and Mitosearch and for most former GeneTree customers in the long run the best option would be to join the FTDNA database. All the large haplogroup and geographical projects are at Family Tree DNA along with over 90% of all the surname projects, including almost all the projects for the very common surnames. FTDNA are also now the only company which offer advanced marker tests (SNP testing) for people who are interested in exploring their deep ancestry. Y-DNA results can be transferred to FTDNA on the payment of a small fee as part of FTDNA's Third Party Y-DNA Transfer Programme. There is no similar scheme to transfer mtDNA results to the FTDNA database, and you would have to buy a new mtDNA test from FTDNA to be included in their mtDNA database.

There has been considerable uncertainty over the fate of the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation database following the acquisition by Ancestry. SMGF has now announced that the site "will continue to operate for the foreseeable future as a freely accessible tool for the genetic genealogy community". The full text of the announcement can be read here. It is, however, still unclear what exactly Ancestry intends to do with the SMGF data. The genealogical information and DNA data were contributed by genealogists on the understanding that they were contributing to a non-profit research project. It would be a different matter entirely if this information were to be included in a commercial genealogy database and presumably Ancestry would be required to gain the consent of all SMGF participants if they wished to re-use their data in the Ancestry database, though the legal position in the US is not clear. If you are at all concerned about Ancestry having access to your data you can choose to have your data removed from the SMGF database. Details are provided on the SMGF consent form.

I will be reporting on the new Ancestry autosomal DNA test in a future blog post. The kits were initially restricted to residents of the US and it is not yet known if the test will be marketed in other countries. However, as an Ancestry subscriber I have now been able to buy a kit from the US at the introductory price of $99. I returned the kit this week and hope to have some results in the next few weeks. It will be interesting to see how it compares with the 23andMe test and Family Tree DNA's Family Finder test which I have already reported on.

© Debbie Kennett 2012