Privacy Statement
Ancestry.com Operations Inc. Privacy Statement relating to Genealogy.com
This Privacy Statement was last updated on July 6, 2009.
If you have not reviewed it since that date, please do so.
You will not receive any other notice of changes to this statement.
Ancestry.com Operations Inc., (and referred to as 'Ancestry.com' 'Ancestry' 'we' 'us' 'our'), has adopted and implemented this Privacy Statement as part of our commitment to protecting your personal information from misuse while using Genealogy.com services (Genealogy.com is a part of the Ancestry network of sites). This Privacy Statement applies to our information-gathering and dissemination practices for the following Web sites: www.Genealogy.com, familytreemaker.com, and genealogylibrary.com (the "Sites"). This Privacy Statement also applies to Genealogy.com services contained on other sites, so long as such services contain Genealogy.com's branding, and Genealogy.com has provided a link to this Privacy Statement in connection with such services (together with the services provided in connection with the Sites, the "Services"). Please note that this Privacy Statement applies solely to our online information-gathering and dissemination practices in connection with the Sites and does not apply to any of our practices conducted offline.
The Sites are not directed at children under the age of 18. If you are under 18, please do not provide any personal information on the Sites.
What information does Genealogy.com collect on the Sites?
Genealogy.com collects both personal information and aggregated information on the Sites. We discuss our collection and use of different kinds of information below.
Personal Information
You do not have to provide personal information to use the Sites. Particular Services provided by Genealogy.com, however, may require that you furnish personal information. We collect such personal information only when you provide it to us - for example, when purchasing products; subscribing to online data services, such as the Genealogy Library; answering surveys; participating in message boards; or taking part in promotional opportunities, such as sweepstakes. You may be asked to provide your contact information (such as your name, postal address, telephone numbers, and/or e-mail address), financial information (such as credit card numbers), and demographic information (such as your Zip or postal code, age, or income level) in connection with your use of such Services.
Your contact information is used to respond to your inquiries, for example, to send you products and Services ordered from the Sites or to respond to your technical or customer support inquiries. We may share information that we collect about our users with our parents, subsidiaries, and affiliated companies (collectively, "Affiliated Companies"), and we and our Affiliated Companies may send you periodic mailings with information on products and services that we think may be of interest to you, updates to the Sites, or upcoming events. We may also forward information to you regarding third-party products or services, without disclosing your personal information to such third parties. If you no longer wish to receive such mailings, you may unsubscribe from our mailing list at any time. (See the Opting Out section below.)
We use IP addresses to calculate our Sites' usage levels. Whenever you are on the Internet, a number (an IP address) is automatically assigned to your computer. This number is identified and logged automatically whenever you visit one of our Sites. Collecting IP addresses is a standard practice on the Internet and is done automatically by many Web sites.
Demographic information, as well as usage data calculated from logging IP addresses, is only shared with advertisers and third parties on an aggregated basis. (See the Aggregated Information section below.)
Whenever we request your personal information on the Sites, to the extent that we intend to use it in a manner not disclosed in this Privacy Statement, we will try to explain to you how we intend to use it, and to provide you with a choice to decline certain uses. In addition, if we plan to post any of your personal information on a Site, we will notify you of this possibility when you provide information to us or prior to posting the information.
We may also disclose personal information if we believe that we are permitted to do so (i) by law, (ii) to comply with legal process or governmental requests, (iii) to enforce our Terms of Service, or (iv) to protect the rights, property, or safety of the Sites, their users, or the public. As our business continues to grow, we might buy or sell subsidiaries or business units. In these transactions, customer information is often one of the transferred assets, remaining subject to promises made in existing privacy statements. Also, in the event that Ancestry, or substantially all of its assets are acquired, customer information will, as a matter of course, be one of the transferred assets.
Aggregated Information
We collect information through the Sites relating to traffic levels on the Sites - for example, the total number of users visiting particular pages - as well as aggregate demographic information. Such aggregated information is helpful to us in improving the Services we offer and for marketing purposes. We may share aggregated information, which does not personally identify our users, with our Affiliated Companies, advertisers, business partners, or other third-party vendors.
Use of Cookies and Other Technologies
Cookies are data that a Web site transfers to an individual's computer for record keeping purposes. Cookies, which are an industry standard tool used by most Web sites, can facilitate a user's ongoing access to and use of a Web site. Cookies do not cause damage to your computer systems or files.
We use cookies and other authentication technologies to eliminate the need for you to log in every time you use certain features on the Sites or access particular Services for which you have a subscription through the Sites. We also use cookies to "pre-populate" certain forms with your personal information, for example your billing or shipping address when you make a purchase. In no case does pre-populating a form automatically transfer any data to any third party. (See the Service Providers section below.) Only if you voluntarily request that such data be transferred will any transfer take place - for example, when you click a "submit form" button.
We also use a temporary cookie to track the products you have chosen to purchase while shopping on the Sites. The cookie expires once you are done shopping.
In addition, from time to time, we may use cookies and other technologies to gather non-personally identifiable information to track the popularity of certain pages of the Sites; the success of our e-mail notifications and ad campaigns on third-party sites, based on click-through rates; and other similar information, all of which assists us in improving our Sites and related Services.
If you do not want information collected through the use of cookies, there is a simple procedure in most web browsers that allows you to automatically decline cookies, or to be given the choice of declining or accepting the transfer of a cookie to your computer. You should note, however, that declining or deleting cookies will encumber your ability to access subscriptions and make it more cumbersome for you to make purchases through and use certain features within the Sites.
Home Pages, Family Trees, Virtual Cemetery and the World Family Tree
You must register (or be registered) with Genealogy.com when and if you create a home page (whether a Personal Home Page through Genealogy.com or a User Home Page through familytreemaker.com), family tree, or submission to Virtual Cemetery through any of the Sites, or contribute to the World Family Tree through a Site or otherwise. When you register, you will be provided a password and user name that will allow you to access, edit and/or delete your home page or family tree, and to access and/or delete your submission to Virtual Cemetery. Once you contribute content to the World Family Tree, however, you may not edit or remove such content. All or part of such content that you submit, post or upload, including your home page, family tree, and submission to Virtual Cemetery, may become part of an online archive that other users of the Services can see and search. Such content, and content that you contribute to the World Family Tree, may also become part of a database that may be reproduced by Genealogy.com in any format, in whole or in part, including without limitation in an electronic storage format, such as CD-ROM or DVD or an online subscription, for distribution, sale, or any other purpose. BY POSTING SUCH CONTENT, YOU EXPRESSLY CONSENT TO THE FOREGOING USES OF SUCH CONTENT BY Genealogy.com.
In certain contexts (for example, when you create a User Home Page using certain versions of Family Tree MakerĀ® software), you may be given the option to password-protect the entire User Home Page and related sub-pages. When such option is used, the User Home Page may still be included in the online archive and database described above; however, if a search inquiry is made that matches content within such User Home Page, only the search term and limited contextual information from such User Home Page will appear in the search results, and the user executing the search will not have access to any other part of such User Home Page.
When you create a home page, build a family tree, or contribute to Virtual Cemetery or World Family Tree, we ask for your e-mail address and other personal information to enable other genealogy enthusiasts who are users of the Services to contact you. At the time that you create your home page, build a family tree, create a submission to Virtual Cemetery, or contribute to the World Family Tree, however, you may choose not to make this information available to other users. If, at a later time, you decide that you do not wish such information to be available to other users, you may change your preferences at https://www.genealogy.com/help.
If you post content through certain Genealogy.com Services, including without limitation, World Family Tree and/or User Home Pages, and have provided your contact information in connection with such Service, and another user contacts us with any concern regarding the posting, we may encourage such user to address his/her concern about any information on such Service directly with you. If the Service, such as a User Home Page, allows for password protection, and you have activated password protection with respect to your contact information, we reserve the right to disclose, in our reasonable discretion, your e-mail address (or other contact information if you have not provided us with a valid e-mail address) to allow users to address concerns directly with you. If another user contacts you with any such concern, you agree to work with such user in good faith to resolve the concern. In addition, Genealogy.com reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to contact you in order to address the concern directly with you, regardless of whether you may have opted out of certain communications from Genealogy.com. You acknowledge that we neither endorse nor are responsible for any communications from other users to you.
We may make our policies relating to your submissions available to you again when you submit content to us, either as part of a separate agreement(s) to which you may be required to agree (for example, in order to access Services such as World Family Tree and User Home Pages), or by means of a link to this Privacy Statement and/or our Terms of Service on Site pages or areas where you can submit your content.
Information Relating to Living Persons
Please note that when you contribute content, including a family tree, to the World Family Tree, we run your content through a program that attempts to identify any living persons listed therein. We use commercially reasonable efforts to make certain personal information (but not headings or labels that you use to identify such personal information) relating to such identified persons "private" by blocking other users from viewing such information in search results or otherwise. Please be aware that the program does not make private the names of persons it identifies as living, or their relation to other individuals within the family tree. In certain other contexts (for example, if you create a User Home Page through familytreemaker.com) you may have the option of making information relating to living persons "private," as described in the preceding sentence. You represent and warrant that you have obtained all appropriate permissions to post information relating to any living person on or in connection with the Sites, including, where necessary, express consent from such person, to provide such information to Genealogy.com, and to allow us to use such information in accordance with this Privacy Statement.
Public Forums
We make message boards and chat rooms available to our users. Please remember that any information that is disclosed in these areas becomes public information. You should exercise caution when deciding to disclose personal information in any message board. For further terms relating to the use of our Public Forums, please review our Terms of Service.
As part of the registration process to use message boards, you will need to create a profile by selecting a screen name, and providing your e-mail address, as well as other information. When you log onto a message board, you may change your profile, including your screen name. Whenever you contribute to a message board, your screen name, linking to your profile, will automatically appear with your post. The information that you provide as part of your profile, except your password, will be accessible to other users of the Sites by clicking on your screen name associated with any of your postings. You may designate, each time that you post a message on a message board, whether you would like to display your e-mail address with your posted messages, to allow others to contact you.
You are also required to register for the chat rooms that are made available through the Sites. You will need to create a profile when registering for the chat rooms by selecting a screen name and providing your e-mail address. As with message boards, whenever you contribute to a chat room, your screen name, linking to your profile, will automatically appear with your post. The information that you provide as part of your profile, except your password, will be accessible to other users of the Sites by clicking on your screen name associated with any of your postings.
Service Providers
We work with third parties who provide services, including but not limited to Web site hosting, order processing and fulfillment, credit card clearance, technical support, data analysis, e-mailing and other services of an administrative nature. We only share personal information, including financial information, with such third parties to the extent necessary for such third parties to provide those services, and we take reasonable steps to ensure that your personal information is protected from unauthorized use.
Links to Third Party Sites
The Sites may contain links to third-party Web sites. The linked sites are not under our control, and we are not responsible for the privacy practices or the contents of any linked site. We are providing these links only as a convenience, and the inclusion of a link on our Sites does not imply our endorsement of the linked site.
Opting Out
In order to access and use certain Services, you will be required to provide certain personal information. Accordingly, if you do not provide such information during the registration process, those Services will not be available to you (for example, if you wish to subscribe to certain databases or participate in message boards). You may, however, choose to "opt out" of receiving promotional or other materials from us. If, after registering, you decide that you would like to discontinue receiving such materials from us, you can change your preferences on the My Profile page within this Site.
Changing or Deleting Personal Information
Upon your request, we will deactivate your profile and personal information from our active databases. You can make this request on the Web page located at https://www.genealogy.com/help. Such information will be deactivated as soon as reasonably possible in accordance with our deactivation policy and applicable law. Please note that we may need to retain certain information for record keeping purposes, and there may also be residual information that will remain within our databases and other records. We reserve the right, from time to time, to re-contact former users of the Sites.
Correcting or Updating Personal Information
If you would like to correct or update any personal information within your profile, you may do so on the My Profile page within this Site, or you may inform us of any changes to the personal information you have provided by making those changes through the Web page located at https://www.genealogy.com/help.
Security
We have security measures in place to protect against the loss, misuse, and alteration of user information under our control. When a credit card number is requested on the Sites, that credit card number is transmitted to us in an encrypted format, using industry-standard, SSL (secure socket layer) encryption. Unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while we strive to protect your personal information, we cannot warrant the security of any information provided to us through the Sites, and you provide all such information at your own risk. We make reasonable efforts to ensure the security of such information stored on our systems.
Assignment
We reserve the right to transfer any and all information, including your personal information, that we collect from users of each Site to a third party in the event that we sell or transfer substantially all of our assets related to the Site to such third party.
Contacting Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Statement, our Sites' practices, or your dealings with us, you can direct them to us through the Web page located at https://www.genealogy.com/help.
Revisions to Privacy Statement
Any of the policies or procedures described above may be changed at any time without prior notice. You can determine if this Privacy Statement has been revised by referring to the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page. Use of any Site constitutes your acceptance of the terms of this Privacy Statement then in effect. We encourage you to bookmark this page and to periodically review it to ensure familiarity with the most current version of our Privacy Statement.