Error? - GEDMATCH link to WikiTree to long dead person

Question

I was looking through my GEDMATCH dna match links to WikiTree, and I came across a link that went to a person born in the 18th century, a Jacoba (van Veenendaal) Van Viegen. Also, the name on GEDMATCH was Joke van Veenendaal, which I thought was more than a little suspect, unless Joke is an actual name.

Comments

I can't comment about any programmatic issue regarding the link back to WikiTree, but you might want to go back and edit your question to remove the email address. That may quite well be a valid email used to register at GEDmatch, and posting it here is probably not a happy thing to do. Just sayin'.  :-)

Edited to add: Yep, Joke is a real name; Dutch. "YO-kay"; diminutive of Johanna.

Answer 1

I just wanted to give you all an update.

Peter Roberts, one of our DNA Project leaders, has contacted GEDMatch, and they are working to resolve this problem.

I would expect that it may be fixed now, but it might take a day or two for their database to be updated.

Big thanks to Peter for handling this!!

Comments

Thanks, Peter, Julie, and Michael! And Joke for quickly finding the root cause!

Answer 2

If you Google Joke van Veenendaal, you will come up with at least three Facebook profiles.  

When considering foreign names, give them the benefit of the doubt. This fellow is from the Netherlands...

 

Comments

Yes, but why does it link to a profile for a long dead person who certainly did not actually get a genetic test? (Born in 1795). That's my point, the name was more a secondary consideration.

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Yeah; something is amiss. Maybe the question should also be tagged sysops to bring it to the attention of the big brains who do the coding?

Answer 3

If the kit number you match to is T079147, it's me.

And yes, Joke is a real name. :-)

No idea, why the link would go to Jacoba van Viegen though.

Comments

Found the cause for the mismatch. Wiki-ID is truncated, instead of Van_Veenendaal-14 (my Wiki-ID), it goes to Van_Veenendaal-1 (Jacoba's Wiki-ID).

See also this g2g post: https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/395717/gedmatch-wikitree-connection-gedmatch-truncates-wikitree

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That's definitely the answer. And thanks for linking the previous G2G conversation, Joke. Since the issue is at least three months old, I wonder if an easy solution is forthcoming. I'd have to assume the truncation is happening on GEDmatch's side of the application interface. Kinda zaps the benefit the GEDmatch/WikiTree link for those with long surnames and, as was the case for Michael, leads to (preventable) confusion for those who click on a possible GEDmatch connection only to land on the WikiTree profile of a person 220 years old.  :-/