ORLANDO, Fla. – An update to Ancestry.com's ethnicity database may drastically change the ethnic results for some customers.
Although the database changes have not officially been rolled out, the update is already showing up for some users, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Ancestry.com said the results are more accurate, but many users are upset.
"Did you know that Ancestry can change your results?" an Ancestry.com customer tweeted. "Received an email to check updates now DNA is improved. Instead of being 57% Scottish and Irish and 10% England, and rest Europe with a few others, I'm now 62% British and 28% Scottish/Irish/Wales. WTF!"
DID YOU KNOW ANCESTRY DNA CAN CHANGE YOUR RESULTS?
— JULiLATTi (@CUinroom340) April 24, 2019
Received an email to check updates now DNA as improved....instead of being 57% Scottish/Irish and 10% England and rest Europe with a few others.. I'm now 62% British and 28% Scottish/Irish/wales..WTF!
The company said the update contains “5x as many samples,” meaning users will get better geographic ethnicity estimates.
Brad Argent, a spokesman for Ancestry, told the Morning Herald that the company makes it clear that ethnicity results are just an estimate and will change as more data comes in. He also said just DNA isn’t the complete story of a person’s ancestry.