Right, marketing scum are tantalizing us all with the prospect of tearing our families apart. Please.

Hardly. This is a story about how 23andme is a good way to find out things you wish you'll never find out, and about how 23andme screwed up their find-your-relatives feature and didn't seem to care about what happened to this poor guy.

This is a story that makes you think twice about whether 23andme is a cool, fun purchase/present.

Long time 23andme user here (one of the first genotyped customers). 23andme's interface is extremely clear about what data is/will be made available to you, and what the possible consequences are.

I'd hardly say it's screwed up. It works as advertised. The author is just upset he has to confront the truth, which I have little sympathy for.

If that's all it was, they would have picked a happy story instead. It's also a serious actual cautionary tale, one that isn't entirely helpful to 23andme.