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
The updated policy introduces new data collection and processing practices. Ancestry now explicitly discloses that it collects information from interactions with AI-powered support assistants, in addition to human communications. The policy adds a new photo face-grouping feature that creates abstract numerical representations of images to organize your photo gallery, available with your express consent; Ancestry states it does not retain these representations. The policy also adds SMS messaging as a communication channel, available if you expressly opt in. You can decline the face-grouping feature and SMS messaging by not providing express consent.
View change record →How other platforms handle this
You can opt out of third parties collecting your Personal Information for targeted advertising purposes in the United States by visiting the National Advertising Initiative's (NAI) opt-out page...
You may update your Privacy Settings, including opting out of cookies and other tracking technologies.
If you use an authorized agent to submit a request, we will not act on that request unless we are able to authenticate, with commercially reasonable efforts, both your identity and the authorized agent's authority to act on your behalf.
"If you clear cookies from the cache in your browser, your "Do Not Sell or Share" preference will be erased, and you'll need to specify your choice again.Excerpt from Ancestry's Privacy Statement
Ad personalization controls removed. Contact scanning added. Advertiser data partnerships quietly dropped. A timeline of every change.
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Companies change their terms without announcing it. We capture governance documents, compare each new version with the last, and publish what changed, with the source text behind it. One email a week on what we found and what we could not reach.
The clause states: “If you clear cookies from the cache in your browser, your "Do Not Sell or Share" preference will be erased, and you'll need to specify your choice again.”
ConductAtlas has identified this type of provision across 277 platforms. See the full comparison.
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