AncestryDNA Kits Are Just $49 for Black Friday

This story is part of Gift Guide, our year-round collection of the best gift ideas.

If you’ve been laboring over what to get your loved ones this Christmas, consider grabbing an at-home DNA test from AncestryDNA. These user-friendly kits make for a fun gift full of potentially illuminating discoveries about the family tree. Amazon has a Black Friday deal that cuts the cost of the AncestryDNA Genetic Ethnicity plus Traits test kit down to £49 today (normally £69).

My own mom did one several years ago and had a lot of fun with it. For one, she learned we are far more Irish and less English than we previously thought.

Not life-altering news by any means, but it was certainly interesting. There are data security and privacy concerns that come along with a DNA test: Some DNA testing companies may share data with pharmaceutical companies and law enforcement agencies. You should always read a company’s privacy policy and think critically before volunteering information about your health history and familial connections to any DNA testing company or organization.

Here’s some more information about that DNA data and how it might be used.  Deleting your data once you’ve received your results can help protect your privacy. The New York Times outlined how best to delete your data and protect yourself after the test is finished:

“To delete data from Ancestry, sign into your account, click the DNA tab and choose Your DNA Results Summary.

From there, click Settings and choose Delete Test Results. You’ll have to enter your password again to confirm that you want to delete your information.  This process will delete your DNA data, as well as prevent you from appearing in any family finder results.

You can also delete your entire Ancestry account.

As with 23andMe (and any federally compliant DNA-testing company), your DNA information will be retained for regulatory compliance purposes, but nothing else, according to Ancestry’s privacy policy.”