UPDATE: Statement from Ancestry concerning privacy…
“Protecting our customers’ privacy is Ancestry’s highest priority. Spotify does not have access to DNA data of any Ancestry customers. Customers can manually input regions, into the playlist generator on Spotify and then a custom playlist is created with songs by artists from the various regions and across a wide variety of musical genres. All information is manually input by customers and the experience is completely optional.”
Maybe you already know your ancestry, exactly where you came from. Your heritage beyond your immediate family tree. Or, maybe you’ve been wondering. Either way, just as fascinating of a question is — What did they listen to?
Now, Ancestry is teaming up with Spotify to curate playlists based on users’ DNA. Anyone who has submitted an at-home DNA test to Ancestry can link to the music streaming service to hear the sounds of their ethnic descent.
Not only will Spotify include songs that were popular or culturally significant, but the algorithm will take into consideration your own tastes. Based on your listening habits and selects from your ancestral homelands, you’ll be able to discover music like never before.
The whole goal behind these playlists is to “encourage [Ancestry’s] audience to explore the soundtrack of their heritage.”
Ancestry Executive Vice president and Chief Marketing Officer Vineet Mehra made a statement following the launch of Spotify’s new feature. “It’s so much more than the stats and the data and the record. How do we help people experience their culture and not just read about it? Music seemed like an obvious way to do that.”
Although concerns have been raised about data privacy, the process is built to protect your information. Here’s some additional information direct from Ancestry, so you can rest assured.
-No access to data: Spotify does not have access to DNA data of Ancestry customers.
-We do not send any data to Spotify related to people’s DNA results. The program is completely optional, and the customers have the option to enter as much or as little information about their regions as they want to Spotify.
-Ancestry customers manually input regions they select, into the playlist generator on Spotify and then a custom playlist is created with songs by artists from the various regions and across a wide variety of musical genres.
-Spotify uses that information to generate the playlists.
-Customers’ Ancestry and Spotify accounts are not linked, and no data is shared between the two.
H/T: Complex