GedMatch.Com just rendered itself useless, they have blacked out everything.

Question

Maybe someone else notice all the Hidden content at GedMatch.com

Comments

Would you like to edit your question's title so it reads gedmatch.com, rather than ged.com?

Answer 1

It seems they posted an announcement about it... see this related thread: https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/617564/wikitree-links-on-gedmatch-holding-gedcoms-not-so-much?show=617564#q617564

Comments

Worse yet, I've noticed several gedcoms posted in my fathers matches where people listed as HIDDEN could not possibly be still alive.   One gedcom had a hidden person who had a child born in 1848.

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and even worse yet you wont be able to find the Identity of live persons with their e-mail or name so you can build a tree if they dont have one, its a resurch killer

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the point of the announcement, is that its a temporary situation

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To My way of thinking You DNA should be Public the resurch is more important and finding criminals and solving diseases should trump any privacy, its not like someone can steel you DNA signature, Its just a number in an equation

Answer 2

I visited the site just now. I was able to access my entire match list with no exclusions, though some users made themselves hidden. I was able to link to the GED's and although the kit owners (manager, the living person) was hidden I could still see entire pedigree files sans them.

some people appear to have removed their pedigrees, but that makes since with all the over-reactions to the GDPR and GSK.

Sounds to me like GEDmatch are protecting living individuals. Sounds like a good business.

And of course the Wiki links are working just as they should.

Mags

Comments

I just accessed the Gedmatch site, accepted the new terms of service, and checked my one-to-many match list. Everything looks pretty much the same as I recall...

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Agreed. No problems for me either.

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The same here, quite straightforward and looks like a sensible business plan to me.

Answer 3

I have spreadsheets I copied of my one to many matches so I coud make notes next to the people I contacted.  So I have the old and the new to actually compare and I see very little difference.  Some names are missing but not the bulk of them.  I think as people sign the new privacy terms they reappear.  So I think the worst is over and as more and more people log back in and accept the new privacy statement they reappear.  I think it is the people who were not serious about finding matches who are missing because on my spreadsheet from before the ones I sent emails to who ever responded seem to be the majority of those missing...  so who cares if they are gone if they did not have trees and do not respond.

Answer 4

I had to go in and correct some death dates in my trees. I added about or afters and it solved the issues. Another reason for people to join WikiTree. But as for GEDmatch here is an article about some things people can do as a workarounds. http://www.theblunderingdnagenealogist.com/2018/05/gdpr-and-gedmatch-hidden-hidden-not.html

Comments

Thanks, Barbara, for that link.

Answer 5

This is a consequence of opening up a genealogical website to other purposes, in this case to support law enforcement (LE).

People who are now dead or no longer interested in DNA genealogy didn't gave consent to that usage, the T&C at that time didn't mention the use of their DNA for LE at all.

There is no other obvious choice than to go for opt-out as default. While you could see (in the past, no longer as there user numbers have decreased) up to 200 concurrent users, this is obviously a small percentage of their 1 million plus DNA samples uploaded (there will be duplicates for sure for every DNA service where you tested).

So only a small minority is using it and can make an informed choice of giving consent to LE or not.

Yes, that makes the whole website useless to a certain extend, I do agree with the OP. It all could have been avoided by not allowing LE or even cooperating with them and violating their own T&C (which is a legal binding contract by both the users and the owners of GEDmatch.com) lately.

Everyone who would like to help with his own DNA sample to catch murderers, rapist or any other criminal person should go to his police station and volunteer to give his DNA to them! That should be the way and us genealogist can reunite and work together on our goal of finding long lost ancestors, prove our family trees and discover new close/distant relatives.

Just my two cents worth

Comments

The women who are waiting for years to have the DNA test in the rape kits
run may wonder if there is any reason to volunteer to give by walking into a
center and expect a peace time test run on time.  I don't care if anyone who
is connectable to my DNA is caught by the police.  Maybe one more baddy
off the streets.  Just my two cents.

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Well. why don't we make DNA tests mandatory every time we apply for a driver's license or a passport? Ask every visitor coming into your country for a DNA test so we can also catch all the foreign baddies as well. Make it mandatory to give a DNA test when you apply for job.

Actually, why not take the DNA of everyone? When they are born and make an extra census with taking mandatory DNA test for everyone living in your country instead of just counting how many people live in the household.

That should eliminate crime. Then it's only step further to come to the penultimate crime prevention, as pictured in Minority Report.

You see all those events described above (drivers license, foreign visitors etc.) have no requirement for a DNA test. But the end justifies the means, right? At least in your opinion.

Makes me wonder why people are still scared that 23andMe and others will sell their DNA to insurances. It's already so easy to just copy the whole GEDmatch database and you can identify not only who is a crime suspect but who is born into a family which has a higher probability of inheriting eg cancer, Parkinson or Early Onset of Alzheimer.