| Important: 23andMe will soon update the Ancestry Service to include Traits. If you purchased the Ancestry Only Service and are sharing at the Ancestry + Health level, your Traits reports will automatically be shared with your connection once the Traits Reports are available in your account. If you prefer not to share Traits reports, you can change the sharing level to Ancestry Only. |
Establishing a sharing connection on 23andMe allows users to view one another's profile names, information from compatible reports, your predicted relationship, and the number and location of overlapping DNA segments. A sharing connection does not allow either person to search or download the other person's raw data, access their DNA Relatives list, or if applicable, view and download the other person’s Reports Archive.
Sharing Level | Considerations | Additional Notes
Sharing Level
Share Ancestry
- Information you may have shared about your grandparents’ birthplaces (if you added this information to your profile or completed the Family Origins survey).
- Information you choose to provide in your profile (such as birth year or your ancestors' family names).
- If you're related, see the location of matching DNA segments between yourself and the match. Furthermore, this shared segment information may be downloaded by your match through the DNA Relatives list download, if both you and your match have opted into that feature.
- Please note that your connections may be able to learn about your genetic sex through matching DNA segments. Genetic sex is the sex 23andMe determines from your DNA analysis, based on genetic markers on the sex chromosomes (X and Y). Matching DNA segments may reveal your genetic sex by showing segments on one or multiple copies of the X chromosome.
- Compare your results from your ancestry reports including the Ancestry Composition, Haplogroups, and Neanderthal Ancestry reports. As new ancestry reports are added, your profile will update.
- Please note that it is possible for your connections to infer your genetic sex via your reports. For example, your included maternal and paternal (if applicable) haplogroup assignments.
Changing Sharing Level
It is important to keep in mind that you have the ability to stop sharing at anytime from within your account.
To stop sharing with a connection:
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Go to the Your Connections feature.
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Click on the gray gear icon located to the right of your connection’s name.
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Click the "Remove Connection" button.
What should I consider before sharing at 23andMe?
- When you extend a sharing invitation, your profile name will be included in the sharing invitation. Once sharing has been established between two accounts, both full profile names will be visible in each other’s accounts. You can change your sharing level or stop sharing at any time. Learn more about how sharing works.
- You would directly be sharing information about ancestral origins, family relationships (including a predicted relationship if applicable) and, if you've chosen that option, health-related information. Some people are comfortable sharing this kind of information, some are not—it's a personal choice.
- In the Advanced DNA Comparison feature, you can compare the shared DNA segments of two profiles you are sharing with even if those two are not sharing with each other. Similarly, your shares may compare your DNA with that of people they're sharing with. This aspect of sharing allows customers to compare people to each other and opens up new genealogical vistas by allowing customers to find evidence of family relationships.
- If you share with someone and you are related, your information will be included in their DNA Relatives data download. This information includes and is limited to: your profile name, your profile sex, the locations of the DNA segments you share, the results of your Maternal and Paternal Haplogroup Reports, and certain information that you choose to add to your DNA Relatives profile, if and only if you are participating in the tool.
- There is some chance that someone you are sharing with could learn something about you that you didn't directly share. For example, if you and someone you are sharing with have a matching segment of DNA that overlaps a health-associated gene, you might infer something about their genotype on the basis of your own, or vice versa. It's also possible to learn about your genetic sex or self-reported sex when sharing matching DNA segments or certain health reports.
Generally, we recommend sharing with people you are comfortable with. Sharing allows you to use more of the features on the website and adds a new dimension to what you can learn about yourself and your family. Many customers share openly with each other and have benefited from the experience. As you learn more about genetics and develop a finer sense of the issues involved, you might begin to share more openly yourself.
Additional Notes
- You may not see data for an individual with whom you are sharing if that individual's data has not yet been loaded to their account. Even though you can't see their information, they will be able to see yours. Once their data becomes available, and they have completed any required tasks, you will be able to view it.
- Information for people already listed in your sharing list may disappear if they decide to discontinue the sharing connection or close their accounts.