Controversies
Controversies tied to this brand in public sources. A listing is not a finding of fault.
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2021
Ancestry.com appeals Nevada right-of-publicity ruling
Lawsuit filed
Ancestry.com Operations Inc. and its affiliates filed a notice of appeal challenging part of a Nevada court ruling in a lawsuit concerning the alleged use of plaintiffs’ names, images and likenesses to market paid subscriptions to Ancestry’s yearbook database.
Source excerpt
Last Thursday, the online genealogy and historical records company Ancestry.com filed a notice of appeal, challenging part of the District of Nevada court’s mid-September ruling.
The lawsuit involves Ancestry’s purported use of the plaintiffs’ names, images, and likenesses (NILs) to market paid subscriptions to the company’s database of school yearbooks.
2019
Criticism of slavery-era advertisement
A television advertisement featuring an interracial couple in the antebellum South was criticized as romanticizing slavery. Ancestry removed the advertisement and apologized.
2017
RootsWeb credential and user-data exposure
A file containing approximately 300,000 RootsWeb usernames, passwords, and email addresses was exposed online. A portion of the records also matched Ancestry.com login credentials.