Latest Terms Give SF-Based Ancestry.Com Rights To Users' Photos, Images Forever
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- If you are one of the millions of users of the genealogy and DNA testing website Ancestry.com, you should check the latest terms and conditions because it could impact every photo you've ever uploaded to your family tree.
In the San Francisco-based company's August 3 update, Ancestry has "a perpetual, sublicensable, worldwide, non-revocable, royalty-free license to host, store, copy, publish, distribute, provide access to, create derivative works of, and otherwise use such User Provided Content," in any way it likes.
According to Judy G. Russell, creator of the website 'The Legal Genealogist,' in these new terms and conditions Ancestry added the words 'perpetual' and 'non-revocable' to its previous version. In a blog post titled, 'One Big Change At Ancestry,' she warns users to always read the fine print on Ancestry and every website they use.
The new policy which takes effect 30 days from the announcement and has sent many users scrambling to take down their images.
The bloggers at dna-explained.com issued an emphatic warning to users.
"If you want to remove anything currently uploaded, do it BEFORE September 2nd and DO NOT UPLOAD ANYTHING ELSE if you are not willing to allow Ancestry permanent unfettered ability to utilize your documents and images," it said.
According to the site, the best way to remove your images is to click on your Gallery of images saved and uploaded and then, one by one, select 'delete from tree.' Be sure to delete each image separately.
