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.
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We retain Personal Information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this General Privacy Policy, including to provide Websites, maintain business operations...
We retain your account information for as long as your account is active and up to 15 days thereafter.
We retain your personal information for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this Privacy Policy or for the period legally permitted or required.
"We retain usage information (e.g., visits to sites) in a depersonalized or aggregated form. Once aggregated, this information ceases to be Personal Information and will not be subject to user deletion requests.Excerpt from Ancestry's Privacy Statement
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The clause states: “We retain usage information (e.g., visits to sites) in a depersonalized or aggregated form. Once aggregated, this information ceases to be Personal Information and will not be subject to user deletion requests.”
ConductAtlas has identified this type of provision across 268 platforms. See the full comparison.
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