The agreement states that with user consent, Ancestry creates abstract numerical representations of facial images to group similar faces in the photo gallery, and that these representations are not retained or stored by Ancestry, while acknowledging they may constitute biometric information under certain jurisdictions' laws.
This analysis describes what Ancestry's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology
This provision describes a facial processing feature that Ancestry itself acknowledges may constitute biometric information in certain jurisdictions, engaging Illinois BIPA, Texas CUBI, Washington's biometric privacy framework, and potentially New York City's biometric privacy ordinance, each of which imposes distinct notice, consent, retention, and destruction requirements that may apply regardless of Ancestry's assertion that representations are not retained.
Interpretive note: Whether creating and transiently processing a numerical facial representation without retention triggers obligations under BIPA and analogous statutes depends on jurisdictional interpretation of what constitutes 'collection' of biometric information, which has not been uniformly resolved across jurisdictions.
The updated Privacy Statement no longer displays a dedicated 'Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information' link in the footer, which was previously accessible to California residents under CCPA requirements. This link allowed users to exercise data-sharing opt-out rights. The footer now lists 'Consumer Health Privacy' as a separate item but does not explicitly direct users to their CCPA controls. California residents may need to locate their opt-out rights through alternative navigation paths on the Ancestry site.
View change record →The updated privacy policy removes the 'Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information' link from the footer navigation. This link previously provided direct access to Ancestry's data-sharing opt-out mechanism, which is a required disclosure under California's CCPA. While the removal does not eliminate the opt-out right itself, it may make the opt-out control less easily discoverable from the privacy policy page. Affected users may need to locate the opt-out mechanism through alternate navigation or search methods.
View change record →The updated Privacy Statement clarifies what uses of Ancestry services are permitted and prohibited, establishes that photo face-grouping in your gallery requires your express consent, and introduces SMS messaging as a communication channel for future opt-in communications. The statement now covers Ancestry, AncestryDNA, and Related Brands under a unified framework while noting that other services operated by the company use separate privacy statements. The removal of 'uploaded DNA data' from the account creation section reflects a narrowing of that specific provision's scope, though genetic information processing remains described elsewhere in the policy. You can review the full updated statement to understand how your personal information will be processed and manage your communication preferences when SMS opt-ins become available.
View change record →Under this clause, activation of the face grouping feature requires express consent, and the agreement states that the resulting numerical representations are not stored; however, users in Illinois, Texas, Washington, and other jurisdictions with biometric privacy laws should evaluate whether applicable statutes impose additional requirements beyond the consent described in this document.
Cross-platform context
See how other platforms handle Face Grouping Biometric Representation Feature and similar clauses.
Compare across platforms →"Classifying, creating image models of, and indexing Your Content (which may include Personal Information) to organize your media, keep our platform safe, and identify your ancestors, places of interest, and other memories; With your consent, to help you organize your photos, we may create an abstract numerical representation of images to group similar faces within your gallery. Ancestry does not retain or store these representations, which may constitute biometric information in certain jurisdictions.Excerpt from Ancestry's Privacy Statement
REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: This provision directly engages Illinois BIPA (740 ILCS 14), Texas CUBI (Texas Business and Commerce Code Chapter 503), and Washington's HB 1493, each of which imposes specific requirements for the collection, use, retention, …
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This provision describes a facial processing feature that Ancestry itself acknowledges may constitute biometric information in certain jurisdictions, engaging Illinois BIPA, Texas CUBI, Washington's biometric privacy framework, and potentially New York City's biometric privacy ordinance, each of which imposes distinct notice, consent, retention, and destruction requirements that may apply regardless of Ancestry's assertion that representations are not retained.
Under this clause, activation of the face grouping feature requires express consent, and the agreement states that the resulting numerical representations are not stored; however, users in Illinois, Texas, Washington, and other jurisdictions with biometric privacy laws should evaluate whether applicable statutes impose additional requirements beyond the consent described in this document.
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