3. Will AncestryDNA disclose personal information to third parties?
AncestryDNA will not disclose personal information to third parties except in very limited circumstances which are set out below. Before AncestryDNA begins to transfer personal information to any third party acting as our agent, we will confirm that they have adopted, are subject to, or are contractually obligated to comply with the principles and objectives of this Privacy Statement.
i) In these scenarios: Examples of the limited scenarios where AncestryDNA may disclose personal information to third parties are: (a) with your knowledge and any relevant consents (for example, when you decide to share your Results with others); (b) as described in this Privacy Statement; (c) as may be required by law, regulatory authorities,or legal process;(d) as permitted to protect the rights or property of AncestryDNA, Ancestry Group Companies or other Users (including outside your country of residence); (e) to enforce our terms and conditions; (f) to prevent fraud or cybercrime; or (g) to permit us to pursue available remedies or limit the damages that we may sustain.
ii) To Ancestry Group Companies: We may share personal information with Ancestry Group Companies so that they may provide services to AncestryDNA and you (including to communicate with you) as described in this Privacy Statement, or provide the additional services of those Ancestry Group Companies to you, and/or for the purposes of connecting you to Users of the other websites operated by the Ancestry Group Companies. The Ancestry Group Companies are subject to similar privacy statements, which you should review. Additionally, as our business continues to grow and change, we might restructure, 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 then prevailing privacy statements. Also, in the event that AncestryDNA, or substantially all of its assets or stock are acquired, transferred, disposed of (in whole or part and including in connection with any bankruptcy or similar proceedings), personal information will as a matter of course be one of the transferred assets.
iii) To your potential relatives: If AncestryDNA (or one of the Ancestry Group Companies) determines that you have a potential relative, you may be matched with that potential relative through the Service. Those potential relatives will be able to see how you are matched (including relevant family tree and/or potential relatives) and, depending on your privacy settings, other personal information, such as your ethnicity regions, your display name, or other profile information.
iv) Third party service providers: Under the protection of appropriate agreements, we may disclose personal information to third party service providers we use to perform various tasks for us, including for the purposes of data storage, consolidation, retrieval, analysis, or other processing, as well as effective management of customer information and to help us communicate with you. For example, we use third parties to process payments from you and to help manage the AncestryDNA Website and relationships with you. For performing the DNA Tests or storing samples we may use approved specialized laboratories or storage facilities. These third-parties are only given access to that information needed to perform their services, and are prohibited from using it for other purposes. These third parties may include affiliated and unaffiliated service providers in in the United States, Europe and in other jurisdictions.
Please note: If you click away from our AncestryDNA Website to visit the site of any third party advertiser or sponsor, you may be asked for your payment card or other personal information in order to purchase or use the products and services that those third parties offer. These companies have their own privacy and data collection practices. We have no responsibility or liability for these independent third party policies. You should therefore review their privacy notices carefully if you have concerns about how personal information may be used. In addition, when you visit any other sections of the Ancestry.com website, you will be subject to the Ancestry Privacy Statement which you should review and understand.