The map and table shows my family history as revealed in DNA extracted and analysed from a sample of my saliva. It is a clear reminder that I am of European descent, but not as clear as the face I see in the mirror.
The popular family heritage site I did this through has linked me to relations I know and some i don’t. I look forward to establishing a connection with over 130 4th cousins at some point in this life, or perhaps the next.
In a time of big data and limits to the confidentiality of personal information am I worried about my DNA being shared and analysed further? Not at all.
As a colleague told me when I first sent a report to many people in the multinational we worked for;
Once you share something you instantly give up control of it.
weareallfuckedup.blog 
Very true, Paul. We now put so much of our lives in the ‘cloud’ and hand over so much personal digital information to both private companies and government agencies that can be easily accessed, lost, stolen or shared, that we are the most public beings in the history of humanity. I’ll hold on to my tenuous fig leaf of digital anonymity a little bit longer if I can, and have opted out of the Oz Government’s looming e-health records system.
One of my sisters had her and her adopted daughter’s DNA mapped by the ubiquitous US-based profiling company a couple of years back and it included what percentage of Neanderthal her DNA contains. It also confirmed that our Anglo-Celtic background contained more than a little Viking blood. Because of the female/male differences, she’s been encouraging her brothers to also get profiled. As we’re a sceptical lot, we’ve so far resisted, but I may wire off my US$100 one of these days, just to stop her asking me. 😕
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