Welcome to Ancestry.com, the world’s largest online resource for family history. Each day, Ancestry members use our research tools and historical records to discover more about their family’s past, build online family trees and share their discoveries with other family historians worldwide.
Below are our detailed terms and conditions that you must read and accept before using our services.
These Terms and Conditions apply to users visiting or registering on or after April 26, 2012. For existing subscribers and registered guests, these Terms and Conditions will become effective on May 28, 2012. For the previous version of the Terms and Conditions, please click here.
Please note that hyperlinks embedded in this agreement may only be accessed through our website. If you are reviewing this Agreement through mobile devices, you may need to visit the website to use the hyperlinks.
Before using this website, you must review and accept the following terms and conditions (the “Agreement”). The Agreement defines your rights and responsibilities as a user ("User") of the website operated by Ancestry.com Operations Inc. (together with its parent corporation, subsidiaries and affiliates, “Ancestry” or “we”) and located at ancestry.com (the “Website”). The Website is operated in the United States of America. Access is governed by these terms and conditions under the laws of the State of Utah and the United States. Registration as a user of or subscriber to the Website results in your information being stored and processed in the United States, and you specifically consent to Ancestry’s storage and processing the personal data you submit. The Website and services provided herein are intended for adults. When a minor uses the Website, the parent or guardian of that minor will be held responsible for the minor’s actions. If you don't agree with any of these terms, or if you have any objections to our Privacy Statement you must not use the Website.
Ancestry offers an online service where Users discover, research, and save their family history by searching our extensive databases of records in order to create family trees (the “Service”). Users of the Website also communicate with relatives and other Users in order to collaborate and exchange family history related information (together with the Users of the Website and other websites and platforms owned by affiliate companies of Ancestry, including ancestry.com, ancestry.com.au, ancestry.ca, rootsweb.com, genealogy.com, mundia.com, the “Ancestry Community”). The Website contains graphics, information, data, user generated information, editorial and other content accessible by Users (the “Content”). Except for Web Records, which are governed by the third parties that host the records, all Content is owned, licensed to and/or copyrighted by Ancestry and may be used only in accordance with this limited use license. The Website is protected by copyright as a collective work and/or compilation, pursuant to U.S. copyright laws, international conventions, and other copyright laws.
You may access the Website, use the graphics, information, data, editorial and other Content only for personal or professional family history research, and download Content only as search results relevant to that research. The Content may be downloaded onto mobile devices or desktop through the use of authorized Ancestry software. When downloaded, the Content remains subject to the limited use license contained in this Agreement. You may use the software provided on the Website only while online and may not download, copy, reuse or distribute that software, except where it is clearly stated that such software is made available for offline use. Ancestry and its licensors retain title, ownership and all other rights and interests in and to all information and Content on the Website. Bots, crawlers, spiders, data miners, scraping and any other automatic access tool are expressly prohibited. Violation of this limited use license may result in immediate termination of your membership and may result in legal action against you.
Before using the Website, you agree to comply with all applicable laws and refrain from infringing any third-party rights or interests (for example, privacy and intellectual property rights). You must also agree that you will not knowingly or willfully submit inaccurate, defamatory or offensive Content to the Website. In addition, the following policies are part of this Agreement and must be followed anytime you access the Website. Ancestry reserves the right to change these policies from time to time and the changes take effect when we post them on the Website:
If we believe, in our sole discretion, that you are in breach of this Agreement or are acting inconsistently with the letter or spirit of this Agreement, we may limit, suspend or terminate your access to our Website. In such a case, no portion of your subscription payment will be refunded. Should we decide to suspend your access for any reason other than a breach by you, we will refund to you any unused portion of your subscription payment, which will be your sole and exclusive remedy upon such a suspension.
Portions of the Website allow you and other Users to contribute material to be displayed on the Website or shared with other Users ("User Provided Content"). For User Provided Content, Ancestry is merely hosting and providing access as well as providing tools to post and share content. We cannot accept any liability with regard to such material (including with respect to its accuracy). While we cannot preview or monitor the User Provided Content, we may apply, at our discretion, automated filtering tools monitor and/or delete any content that Ancestry believes to be in violation of this Agreement (for example, we could use automated tools to suppress obscene content). We reserve the right to act expeditiously to remove or disable access to any User Provided Content that we believe violates this Agreement. We are also sensitive to the copyright and other intellectual property rights of others. For complaints regarding copyright infringement or illegal content, click here.
The decision to upload information to the Website or share information is your responsibility and you should only submit or share content that belongs to you or that will not violate the rights of others. Be aware that content belongs to the creator of that content and you should not reproduce or submit anything without permission of the owner. By submitting material to the Website, you represent that you have the right to do so or that you have obtained any necessary third party consents (e.g., under privacy or intellectual property laws). Upon the request of Ancestry you agree to furnish Ancestry with any documentation, substantiation and releases necessary and reasonably required to verify and substantiate your compliance with this provision.
By submitting User Provided Content to Ancestry, you grant Ancestry, its parent company and all of its affiliates, a transferable license to use, host, sublicense and distribute your submission to the extent and in the form or context we deem appropriate on or through any media or medium and with any technology or devices now known or hereafter developed or discovered. You hereby release Ancestry from any and all claims, liens, demands, actions or suits in connection with the User Provided Content, including, without limitation, any and all liability for any use or nonuse of your User Provided Content, claims for defamation, invasion of privacy, right of publicity, emotional distress or economic loss. Except for the rights granted in this Agreement, Ancestry acquires no title or ownership rights in or to any content you submit and nothing in this Agreement conveys any ownership rights in the content you submit to us.
If you submit material to the Website on behalf of a group, organization or business entity, you represent that you have the right to do so and that you have obtained any consents from the group, organization or business. Some User Provided Content can be submitted to Ancestry and Ancestry will scan, image and/or create an index from the content you submit. In this situation, you grant Ancestry a license to the User Provided Content as described above and Ancestry will own the digital version of documents created by Ancestry as well as any indexed information that Ancestry creates.
6. Subscription Terms, Fees and Payments
Users of the Website may be unregistered visitors, registered guests, paying subscribers or Users that pay per time they view a record. The different payment options and services offered for the different levels will be published on the relevant Website or at the time a subscription or other service is offered or renewed. The terms and conditions applying to such subscriptions or other services will be incorporated into this Agreement.
Terms for All. You must be 18 years or older to register or subscribe. You must provide Ancestry with accurate, complete, and up-to-date registration information. Failure to do so will constitute a breach of this Agreement. As part of the registration process, you will be assigned a username and you will select a password. You understand that you may not (i) select or use a name of another person with the intent to impersonate that person; (ii) use the rights of any person without authorization; or (iii) use a name that we, in our sole discretion, deem inappropriate. You are responsible for all usage or activity on Ancestry via your account. Distribution of your password to others for access to Ancestry is expressly prohibited. You will never be required to reveal your password to any representative or agent of Ancestry, its owners or agents. You must notify us by regular mail or by e-mail at [email protected] of any known or suspected unauthorized use(s) of your account, or any known or suspected breach of security, including loss, theft, or unauthorized disclosure of your password or billing information.
All subscriptions are automatically renewing with the exception of gift subscriptions and pay-per view. This means that once you become a subscribing member, your subscription will be automatically renewed and your billing choice will be charged based on the subscription program (semiannually, quarterly, monthly, etc.) you have chosen unless you opt out or cancel by following the instructions in this Agreement. Except in the case of monthly subscriptions, you will be notified via e-mail before your subscription ends and asked to correct any information which has changed and whether you wish to "opt out" of your renewal. The renewal of the subscription takes place subject to the terms in force on the date of renewal.
When other offers, promotions or free trials are made available, the specific terms and conditions that apply to each will be stated at the time of purchase; please ensure you have noted any relevant rules, cancellation dates or price changes when a promotion or free trial ends.
Opting Out of Renewal. You may opt out of renewing your subscription by calling Ancestry at 1-800-262-3787 or by logging into your My Account page on the Website at least two days before the renewal date. If you do not let us know that you want to terminate your subscription at least two days prior to the end of the current subscription period the payment for the renewal period of the subscription will be made.
Cancellations and Refunds. You may cancel a free trial at any time during the free trial period and incur no charge. For all initial purchases of subscriptions longer than one month, you may cancel during the first 30 days and receive a full refund. If your subscription begins with a free trial, the 30 day refund period begins once the free trial ends. If the cancellation occurs after the first 30 days, you will not receive a refund. For all renewals of subscriptions longer than one month, you may cancel within seven days of the renewal date and receive a full refund. Monthly subscriptions may be cancelled at any time but you will not receive a refund. Please note that for gift subscriptions the refund time period begins on the date of purchase since no free trial period is available. If you cancel your subscription but are not eligible for a refund, you will retain access to the Website until your subscription expires. Cancellations may be made by calling Ancestry at 1-800-262-3787 or by logging into your My Account page on the Website and providing the same information that you provided when you subscribed. Your cancellation must be received by end of business (5:00 p.m. Mountain Time) on the appropriate day as described above. All refunds will be given to the original credit card on which the purchase was made. Please allow a reasonable time for the refund to reach you or be charged back to your account.
Prices Subject to Change. Prices may be changed by Ancestry at any time and each renewal of your subscription will be at the then standard renewal cost for the period that you originally selected when you subscribed. Ancestry shall provide you with reasonable notice of any change in prices prior to the effective date of the new pricing by email or other reasonable means such as a notice on the website or in usual member communications. If you do not wish to continue with your subscription due to the new prices, you may opt out of renewal as set forth in this Agreement.
7. Communications Between Ancestry and You
We will send electronic mail to you or otherwise notify you for the purpose of informing you of changes or additions to the Website or Service, or of any related products and services. You may opt out of commercial advertising and marketing emails at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the end of each such email or by going to My Account and changing your email preferences. Please see our Privacy Center for further information on how we manage and process your personal information.
Any sweepstakes, contests, raffles or other promotions (collectively, “Promotions”) made available by Ancestry may be governed by rules that are separate from this Agreement. If you participate in any Promotions, please review the applicable rules as well as our Privacy Statement. If the rules for a Promotion conflict with this Agreement, the Promotion rules will apply.
9. Modifications to this Agreement
Ancestry has the right, at its sole discretion, to modify this Agreement at any time. Changes will be posted on the Website and by changing the date of last revision on this Agreement. If any portion of this Agreement or any change to the Website is unacceptable to you or will cause you to no longer be in compliance with the Agreement, you may cancel your subscription by following the instructions in this Agreement. Continued use of the Website now or following posted notices of changes in this Agreement means that you have accepted and are bound by the changes.
No Warranty. We make no express warranties or representations as to the quality and accuracy of the Content, Website or Service, and we disclaim any implied warranties or representation to the maximum amount permissible under applicable law. We offer the Website on an "as is basis" and do not accept responsibility for any use of or reliance on the Website, Content or Service, or for any disruptions to or delay in the Service. In addition, we do not make any representations as to the accuracy, comprehensiveness, completeness, quality, currency, error-free nature, compatibility, security or fitness for purpose of the Website, Content or Service. Ancestry does not guarantee the adequacy of the Service or Website or compatibility thereof to your computer equipment and environment and does not warrant that this Website, the Service, its servers, or any emails which may be sent from Ancestry are free of viruses or any other harmful components.
Limitation of Liability; Exclusive Remedy. We limit our liability to the maximum amount permissible under applicable law. In particular, we shall not be liable for any damages that we cause unintentionally and we shall not be liable to you for any actual, incidental, indirect or consequential loss or damage howsoever caused, provided that nothing in this Agreement will be interpreted so as to limit or exclude any liability which may not be excluded or limited by law. If you are dissatisfied with any portion of the Website, or with any clause of these terms, as your sole and exclusive remedy you may discontinue using the Website.
Third Party Services. Ancestry may, from time to time, provide opportunities to Users of the Website to purchase services from third parties. Websites of those third parties are subject to terms and conditions different from those found here and it is your responsibility to ensure that you have read and understood them. Ancestry makes no warranty concerning, is not responsible for and does not endorse any third party provided goods or services, and you agree that any recourse for dissatisfaction or problems with those goods or services will be sought from the third party provider and not from Ancestry.
If a dispute arises between you and Ancestry, our goal is to provide you a neutral and cost effective means of resolving the dispute quickly. To that end, you agree to first contact Ancestry Customer Support at 1-800-262-3787 to describe the problem and seek a resolution. If that does not resolve the issue, then you and Ancestry agree to the following methods to resolve any dispute or claim between us. First, you agree that this Agreement is governed by the law of the State of Utah, without regard to its principles on conflicts of laws, and the federal law of the United States of America. Second, you agree that you will seek arbitration consistent with the rules before initiating any litigation. If arbitration cannot resolve the issue, you agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of the courts located within Utah County, Utah for the purpose of litigating all such claims or disputes.
Any arbitration will be governed by the Commercial Dispute Resolution Procedures and the Supplementary Procedures for Consumer Related Disputes of the American Arbitration Association (collectively, "AAA Rules"). The AAA Rules and costs are available online at www.adr.org or by calling the AAA at 1-800-778-7879. . YOU AND ANCESTRY AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN YOUR OR ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. Further, unless both you and Ancestry agree otherwise, the arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person’s claims, and may not otherwise preside over any form of a representative or class proceeding. Notwithstanding the foregoing, this arbitration agreement does not preclude you from bringing issues to the attention of federal, state, or local agencies. Such agencies can, if the law allows, seek relief against us on your behalf. This arbitration provision shall survive termination of this Agreement.
We reserve the right to assign or transfer our rights and obligations under this Agreement. These terms are personal to you and, as a result, you may not without the written consent of Ancestry assign or transfer any of your rights and obligations under these terms.
You acknowledge and agree that Ancestry may disclose your information if Ancestry believes that it is required to do so by law, or that such preservation or disclosure is reasonably necessary to: (a) comply with legal process or governmental requests; (b) enforce the Agreement; (c) respond to claims that any content violates the rights of third parties; or (d) protect the rights, property, or safety of the Website, the users, or the public.
In the event that any term of this Agreement is held to be invalid or unenforceable, the remainder of these terms shall remain valid and enforceable. We can replace any term which is not valid and enforceable with a term of similar meaning which is valid and enforceable.
Any failure by us to enforce any term of the terms of this Agreement shall not affect our right to require performance at any subsequent time, nor shall the waiver by us of any breach by you of any provisions of these terms be taken to be a waiver of the provision or provisions itself.
You agree to indemnify us against all liabilities, claims and expenses that may arise from any breach of this Agreement by you or otherwise as a result of your use of the Services or Website.
Official correspondence must be sent via postal mail to:
Ancestry.com
Attn: Customer Solutions
360 W 4800 N
Provo, UT 84604
This Agreement, including any terms, conditions and policies expressly referenced herein, shall constitute the complete understanding and agreement between you and us, and shall supersede and cancel any prior or contemporaneous understandings and agreements, except as expressly provided otherwise by Ancestry.