Consumer genomics company Ancestry has confirmed it fought two U.S. law enforcement requests to access its DNA database in the past six months, but that neither request resulted in turning over customer or DNA data.

The Utah-based company disclosed the two requests in its latest transparency report covering the latter half of 2020. The report said Ancestry “challenged both of these requests, which were withdrawn,” and that the company “provided no data” at the time of the report, published Tuesday.

Ancestry did not say which agencies or police departments requested the DNA data or for what reason the company challenged the request. Ancestry spokesperson Gina Spatafore confirmed the search warrants were to obtain DNA data but declined to comment beyond what was in the report.

The company also said in its most recent report that it “refused numerous inquiries” from U.S. law enforcement for failing to obtain the proper legal process. The report also said the company received four valid law enforcement requests, but that it did not provide any data in response.

You can learn more in an article by Zack Whittaker in the TechCrunch web site at: https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/10/ancestry-police-warrant-dna-database/

Although everyone may be celebrating Valentine’s Day slightly differently this year, some things will remain the same: the consumption of copious amounts of chocolate and the celebration of love in your family. And what better way to celebrate your family’s greatest love stories than to research their beginnings?

MyHeritage has announced that the company is offering free access to all marriage records on MyHeritage.com from February 10–16, 2021.

Details may be found in the MyHeritage Blog at: https://blog.myheritage.com/2021/02/free-access-to-marriage-records-on-myheritage-this-valentines-day/.

Have you researched ALL your ancestors? Obviously, you cannot research all of them for the past few millions of years. However, have you found all of them in the past 10 generations? 20 generations? 50 generations?

Do you even know how many ancestors that would be?

Here is a chart to displays how many ancestors you have in past generations, assuming there are no duplicates (and there are ALWAYS duplicates):

Number of ancestors in that generation   Total ancestors (this generation plus all later generations) 2   2 4   6 8   14 16   30 32   62 64   126 128   254 256   510 512   1,022 1,024   2,046 2,048   4,094 4,096   8,190 8,192   16,382 16,384   32,766 32,768   65,534 65,536   131,070 131,072   262,142 262,144   524,286 524,288   1,048,574 1,048,576   2,097,150 2,097,152   4,194,302 4,194,304   8,388,606 8,388,608   16,777,214 16,777,216   33,554,430 33,554,432   67,108,862 67,108,864   134,217,726 134,217,728   268,435,454 268,435,456   536,870,910 536,870,912   1,073,741,822 1,073,741,824   2,147,483,646 2,147,483,648   4,294,967,294 4,294,967,296   8,589,934,590 8,589,934,592   17,179,869,182 17,179,869,184   34,359,738,366 34,359,738,368   68,719,476,734 68,719,476,736   137,438,953,470 137,438,953,472   274,877,906,942 274,877,906,944   549,755,813,886 549,755,813,888   1,099,511,627,774 1,099,511,627,776   2,199,023,255,550
Yes, that's more than TWO TRILLION ANCESTORS if we assume there were no duplicates (one person appearing in more than one place in your family tree). That's more than all the people who ever lived on the face of the earth so obviously there are many duplicates in your family tree and in everyone else's family tree. Also, we all are distant cousins of each other but that's another topic for another time...

Here is an announcement from NGS:

FALLS CHURCH, VA, 9 FEBRUARY 2021—The National Genealogical Society (NGS) will host its Delegate Council Virtual Kickoff Workshop on 17 May 2021 as part of its weeklong virtual NGS 2021 Family History Conference. The Delegate Council is the new advisory committee for NGS member organizations created as part of the 2020 merger with the former Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS). This inaugural workshop will focus on helping delegates understand their role within the National Genealogical Society. The workshop is by invitation only.

“Our hope is that the Delegate Council will provide the NGS Board of Directors a unique perspective and guidance on issues of significance to the field of genealogy and the family history community both locally and nationally,” says Kathryn M. Doyle, president of NGS. “We will also look to the Council to implement new initiatives that will best serve genealogical and related organizations.”

During the kickoff workshop, delegates will learn about the structure and function of the Council. They also will discuss optimum ways in which to collaborate effectively and provide feedback to the Council’s leadership. 

Early Bird registration is now open for the NGS 2021 Virtual Family History Conference. Learn more about the weeklong events planned for 17-21 May.

The following announcement was written by FamilySearch:

Find a key part of your genealogical puzzle this week on FamilySearch in US City and Business Directories ca 1749 – ca 1990, New York Land Records 1630–1975, and new collections for New Zealand Electoral Rolls, 1865–1957, the Liberia Census 2008, and 3M more Catholic Church Records for Mexico (Guerrero 1576–1979, Querétaro 1590–1970, Colima 1707–1969),plus new records for Chile, Germany, Peru, S. Africa, Switzerland and the US (GA, MT, SD and VA). 

Search these new records and images by clicking on the collection links below, or go to FamilySearch to search over 8 billion free names and record images.

The full list of all the new records is very long, too long to fit here. However, you can find the full list at: https://media.familysearch.org/new-free-historical-records-on-familysearch-week-of-8--february-2021/.

Here are the words that no genealogist, historian, or archivist ever wants to hear: a major archive with many original documents, most of which have never been copied or digitized, is on fire and the fire has been burning for many hours.

Firefighters in Kraków, Poland have been battling a blaze that broke out in the city’s archives for 36 hours.

The fire started on Saturday evening and, according to a spokesman for Małopolska fire brigade, it is difficult to predict when it will be extinguished.

The city’s archives contain about 20,000 linear metres of documents.

Temperatures in Kraków presently are below zero which certainly must be a problem for firefighters.

Anyone interested in the future of genealogy research by using DNA or anyone interested in how their already-submitted DNA information will be used by 23andMe will want to read a new article by Alistair MacDonald and Amy Dockser Marcus.

I wrote recently (at https://eogn.com/page-18080/10061027 and at https://eogn.com/page-18080/10063660) about 23andMe's planned upcoming merger with Virgin Group’s VG Acquisition Corporation, along with an additional $250 million from new investors, British billionaire Richard Branson and 23andMe Chief Executive Anne Wojcicki. The new article now describes the future business plans.

NOTE: Richard Branson is best known as the founder and CEO of Virgin Airlines but he also owns several other corporations as well.)

In short, 23andMe has already seen a decline in revenue. (I know that several other companies in the DNA business have the same problem.) The basic problem is that testing a person's DNA is usually a one-time event. Most customers take the test once, read the results, and then move on to other interests.

This is unlike the genealogy business and thousands of other businesses where customers interact with a company once, become interested, and then return again and again to conduct more business with that company. Think about MyHeritage, Ancestry.com, Findmypast, TheGenealogist, and several other genealogy businesses. Most of their customers try their service(s) once, become interested, and then return time and time again to look for more information. In the business world, this is often referred to "recurring revenue."

In contrast, 23andMe's PRIMARY business typically resulted in a one-time visit: sign up, take the test once, read the results, and never return again. That's a business problem, especially once the potential customer base becomes saturated: most of the people who might be interested in taking a DNA heritage test probably have already done so. There is little repeat business. (Of course, there will always be a few newly-interested potential customers but the number of such new customers seems to be declining.)

As stated in the article, "The deal would help fund 23andMe’s transition away from the slowing consumer DNA-testing market toward the potentially more lucrative health market."

The new plan for 23andMe seems to be focusing on generating new business by encouraging on existing customers (plus obviously attracting as many new customers as possible) to answer research questions and identify people who might want to participate in clinical medical trials. Customers signing up for medical trials results in more revenue for 23andMe.

In short, I see this as a rather good business plan: providing additional (and optional) services for both new and existing customers.

Are you a diabetic? Do you have high cholesterol? Do you have some other inherited medical problem? If so, you may be VERY interested in 23andMe's new business plans.

You can find the (rather short) article at http://bit.ly/2Z38LOB and read it at no charge. However, that first article then links to a much longer article in the Wall Street Journal that provides more details. The article in the Journal is available only to those who have a paid subscription to that publication.

DNA company 23andMe is now planning to go public, as described in my earlier articles at http://bit.ly/3cFriIR and at http://bit.ly/3cHHBoz.

Now a new article by Brian Sozzi and published in the Yahoo!finance web site provides a lot of information about how all this came to be, thanks to a $25 million (U.S. fund) investment from multi-billionaire Richard Branson plus an additional $25 million from 23andMe CEO Anne Wojcicki.

Branson believes:

“And 23andMe, just their drug development side could shorten the development [time] of a new drug by as much as two and a half years, which makes coming up with new drugs that much quicker,” said Branson. “And I think 23andMe can lead to people having a healthier lifestyle.”

Richard Branson

You can read the article at: http://yhoo.it/3rpOZZR.

It appears to me that 23andMe will now focus less on genealogy and DNA identification of ethnicity and instead will focus primarily on medical issues and the development of new drugs.

Or did I read too much into this latest announcement? You decide.

The following announcement was written by Findmypast:

With new and exclusive records from New York, Shropshire and Yorkshire, where will your past take you this weekend? Here's what's new on Findmypast this week.

New York Catholic Parish Registers Browse

You can now explore this important collection page-by-page along with recent new additions from Harlem, The Bronx, Yonkers and Ulster County. Over 244,000 Images taken from microfilm and original registers from over 200 parishes are available to browse.

Including births, baptisms, marriages, confirmations, communions and deaths, these exclusive records are an excellent resource for tracing your Catholic roots. As well as providing essential dates and locations, many records will also reveal the names of your ancestor’s parents (including mother’s maiden name) or spouse. 

Check the parish list to see which churches' records are only available in this browsable resource. And remember, if you're looking for a specific record, you can also search for baptisms and marriages.

Shropshire Quarter Sessions Rolls Index, 1831-1920

Exclusive to Findmypast, discover if your Shropshire ancestors faced their local judge in these new court indexes. A wide variety of administrative record types are included, such as appointments, bastardy papers, inquests, oaths of allegiance and petitions, as well as the whole panoply of records surrounding criminal cases.

Each record consists of a transcript that, along with the defendants name and the date of their hearing, provide all the information required to identify a specific record within this time period. The original documents can only be consulted at the Shropshire Archives.

To help you make the most of the records, Findmypast have compiled this handy list with each document type, their abbreviations and a brief description on where you'll find them.

Yorkshire, Ecclesall Bierlow Workhouse Admissions 1883-1915

Covering parts of Yorkshire and Derbyshire, this collection can help you trace relatives on the breadline. In these transcripts, you'll discover birth dates, occupations, dates of admission and more. The index has been created by the Sheffield District Family History Society who have transcribed original admission registers held by the Sheffield Archives.

The Ecclesall Bierlow workhouse was first built at the Sharrow Moor. It originally housed between 60 to 80 inmates but expanded significantly over time to include an asylum block, vagrants’ wards, laundry block, and children’s cottage homes. It also had space for boys’ training workshops in tailoring and shoemaking. By 1896 it could house up to 600 inmates and admitted roughly 5,000 each year with a weekly average of 100 admissions.

Newspapers

Findmypast’s local newspaper archives continue to grow. Brand new to the collection this week are:

While additional papers have been added to nine existing titles, including:

One week ago, I published an article suggesting that Consumer DNA-testing company 23andMe Inc. is in talks to go public through a roughly $4 billion deal ..." (You can see that article at http://bit.ly/3cFriIR.) Now the acquisition has been completed.

According to an article today an the Bloomberg News Service:

"Consumer DNA-testing company 23andMe Inc. has entered into a deal to merge with VG Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company founded by billionaire Richard Branson."

"The agreement values the Silicon Valley company at $3.5 billion, with Chief Executive Officer Anne Wojcicki and Branson each investing $25 million into a $250 million private investment in public equity offering.

"Other investors include Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC, Altimeter Capital, Casdin Capital and Foresite Capital. Current shareholders of 23andMe will own 81% of the combined company, with the deal expected to close in the second quarter of 2021. A merger with a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, allows 23andMe to go public without the uncertainty or holding an initial public offering."

There is more to the article, including comments from 23andMe Chief Executive Officer Anne Wojcicki, at: http://yhoo.it/39NguXx.