Ancestry Traits

[deeahgwitch]

I have an Ancestry account and they now send you details of traits you have as well as details of your origins and matches.
However some traits are just plain wrong (others are spot on).
How can I inform Ancestry of this does anyone know ?
I think it’s important they get feedback.
I looked on their app but can’t see anywhere to let them know.
Wise Mumsnetters with better knowledge might know where I can contact them about this.

Yeah, I just had notification of one come through. Total opposite to my actual trait!

At the end of the day, it seems to me traits are just probability based and don't really relate to actual lived experience! I don't think there's any point in notifying Ancestry about it - it's unlikely to change the algorithm/AI determination...

What sort of traits are we talking about here?

Traits = utter bollocks

Look at what it says about how much it is inherited and how much is environmental for each of these traits.

Physical, personality and emotional traits, a whole array of them, down to tastes etc.
I think most of it is crap, though they do get some things right, like 'tends to have light coloured eyes' or 'likely to have fair hair and a tendency to pass on red hair', but that's encoded in our genes. How your DNA can reveal that you 'like dancing' or that you're 'likely to have a pet' is beyond me.

Mine have been about 80% spot on, with the rest totally wrong. It was a bit of fun at first for me (enjoy dancing, have a dog) but I've lost interest now. I don't need it to tell me whether I'm likely to have wet or dry earwax! But you probably filled in a survey at some point? So e.g. I told the survey my fourth finger is longer than my second, and guess what an email later informed me about my second and fourth fingers?

So is this something you get if you do a DNA thing with them? If so, that's a bit like eugenics

They've only got one wrong for me, flat feet. I have quite a pronounced arch. Only 6% of that trait is genetic so a lot of variation.

One trait they certainly got right was “More attractive to mosquitoes”
I got bitten alive this summer in Italy.
The other traits were a bit hit and miss.

Interesting @deeahgwitch I am the same, and I get badly bitten by fleas if the cats ever have them. I wonder how they can tell that? Do they favour a certain kind of blood or something?! My blood group is AB+, I think they can tell that from saliva.

A load of bunkum then. Just as I suspected. 😂

I think they use data from surveys they have done and compare similar matches. Some are spot on, but it is getting ridiculous now. What next for traits? Prefers vanilla ice cream over chocolate ice cream?

My DD has black hair. Not dark brown, black. Her DNA is 100% Northern European with mostly Scandinavian and some Finnish. 23andme say she must be very light haired. I think they then assume we can’t possibly have black hair. But we do. My Norwegian family is full of redheads, blondes and blackheads (lol). I think they make assumptions…