Whether your journey begins with DNA or family history, we want everyone to feel welcome in our community. To keep the community engaging, safe, and appropriate for all, the following rules clarify what is allowed and prohibited on Ancestry. If you come across something that violates these Rules, please contact us or file a report online and we will do our best to address the situation. We always appreciate your feedback in helping to make Ancestry a safe and comfortable environment for everyone.
Site Access and Security
While using your Ancestry account or any Ancestry Services, you:
- Must comply with all applicable laws.
- Must have your own Ancestry account, and select a unique username and password.
- May not share your Ancestry account password with anyone else.
- May not permit a child under the age of 13 to publish information or post content through your Ancestry account.
- Must provide valid and complete contact information, including a valid email address.
- May not select a username that is hateful, obscene, or otherwise inappropriate, as determined by Ancestry, in its sole discretion.
- Must never misrepresent your identity, either to Ancestry or to other users.
- Must not interfere or attempt to interfere with the Services, including using any software program, virus or routine to block, obscure, modify any Ancestry Content or web pages, or to destroy another person’s software, hardware, or telecommunications equipment.
Community Safety
While using your Ancestry account or any Ancestry Services, you may not:
- Post or share any content that is illegal, threatening, harmful, abusive or otherwise objectionable, including content or communications that are degrading, defamatory, vulgar, hateful, libellous, fraudulent, obscene, pornographic, sexually explicit, sexist, racist, or invasive of another's privacy,.
- Stalk, harass, threaten or verbally attack any user or Ancestry employee, or abuse Ancestry resources, such as misusing an Ancestry employee’s time.
- Post any information or communication that you know is false or misleading, including impersonating any person, misrepresenting your affiliation with any person or entity (including Ancestry), falsely claiming an endorsement that you do not have, or misrepresenting that you are an employee or representative of Ancestry or its family of companies.
- Post or share content containing any person’s personal, proprietary, or confidential information such as photos of living individuals, court documents that may have been sealed, sensitive financial information, or a person’s address, phone number, or email address without their permission. In the case of minors, you’ll need the consent of their parent or guardian.
Respect for Intellectual Property
While using your Ancestry account and the Ancestry Services, you may not:
- Post or share content that is protected by copyright or trademark, or that does not belong to you, including pictures and historical documents posted by other users, unless you have express permission from the owner of the copyright or trademark for such content. Read our Copyright Policy for more information.
- Reproduce, reverse-engineer, or sell any portion of Ancestry’s Services (including AncestryDNA test kits) or Ancestry Content, or systematically download data from Ancestry databases to make or populate another database for any other purpose.
- “Deep link” or frame, inline link, or mirror any part of any Ancestry Services without Ancestry’s written permission.
Spam is Not Allowed
You may not use your Ancestry account or the Ancestry Services (or any information obtained through the Services) to post or make available any advertising, promotional materials, junk mail, spam, chain letters, or any other form of solicitation.
Find a Grave
While using Find a Grave, please keep in mind these additional rules:
- Do not abuse tools for suggesting corrections or additions or for messaging other Find a Grave members about memorials they manage.
- Please be sensitive to the diverse cultural meanings of burial grounds, cemeteries, and the deceased. We acknowledge that some Indigenous communities seek to honor and mark their graves, while others do not wish their graves to be found, photographed, or posted publicly. Do not post, transmit, or display content taken from or pertaining to federally and/or state recognized Native American lands and/or members without the express consent and permission of the respective and affiliated community, people, or tribal nation, or unless you are a citizen or authorized representative of said tribal nation.
Legal Details
The Ancestry Community Rules apply to all users of Ancestry’s Services (including Ancestry.com, AncestryDNA, Newspapers.com, Fold3, We Remember, Find a Grave, and other Ancestry websites and mobile apps) and are intended to protect you and the entire Ancestry community. Any capitalized terms used in these Rules shall have the same meaning as set out in the Ancestry Terms and Conditions and Privacy Statement.
This list of prohibited conduct is not exhaustive. Ancestry prohibits users of the Services from engaging in any activity that Ancestry, in its sole discretion, determines to be offensive, interferes with the rights of others, or causes harm to any person or entity. Ancestry can’t be responsible for the content our users create and share in the community, but we reserve the right to remove any posts or comments that violate these rules or our Terms and Conditions.
Serious or repeat violations or offences will subject the responsible user to account suspension or termination.