Popular Web service collects data for Israeli company

The site has just updated its offering, making its software for entering genealogy information easier to use. There is even a “Tree Consistency Checker,” a tool that helps find mistakes in family tree data, automatically identifying errors and inconsistencies in 40 categories. A considerable amount of personal biographic data such as birthdates, wedding anniversaries, places of birth, and much more can be provided and utilized in creating the family tree charts. A new feature even allows for the entry of genealogy DNA markers and if such information for a family is not available, the site will provide contacts for companies that conduct such tests. The family tree charts created at MyHeritage.com can be shared in .pdf format with anyone and they can even be printed in murals as large as a wall. The site has free basic services and then there are premium services which require credit card payment.
Interested to see just exactly what was offering, I entered the URL in my browser and based on my source IP in the Saudi network, I was re-directed to www.MyHeritage.ae — which came up in Arabic. Looking for more information on the developers and organization behind MyHeritage, I clicked through to the “About” section of that website and was surprised to find that the parent organization for MyHeritage is headquartered in the moshav Bnei Atarot, near Tel Aviv, Israel. Thinking that there was some mistake — I used another browser to override the redirect to MyHeritage.ae and went to check the “About” information at MyHeritage.com. There was no error.
It is stunning to find that although the UAE doesn’t have diplomatic relations with Israel, its Internet regulator is allowing an Israeli headquartered firm to openly use the .ae top level domain to collect biographic data. The company has posted information in Arabic at its UAE website, proudly discussing its Bnei Atarot operations. The MyHeritage.ae website is being used by Arabic speakers to create extremely detailed family tree charts which may include information on family members such as full name, birthplace, birth date, marriage anniversary, death information, current address, photograph, DNA markers — and numerous other identifiers. The UAE authorities are still trying to ascertain the identities of 11 people involved in the January 2010 assassination of Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh, a senior figure in the military wing of Hamas, who was found dead in his Dubai hotel room. Those eleven criminals entered the UAE on false passports, so the country is well aware of how personal information can be used to produce false documents.
The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations, known as the Mossad, is widely suspected of organizing the hit squad for the Al-Mabhouh assassination. The Mossad has been appointed by Israel to collect information, analyze intelligence and perform special covert operations beyond its borders. The MyHeritage privacy policy states: “MyHeritage.com will not disclose any of your personal information, except with your knowledge and consent as described below, or as may be required by law, or to protect the rights or property of MyHeritage.com.” It’s hard to imagine that MyHeritage would refuse to disclose personal data requested by a governmental agency under a legal pretense or even in the national interest.
In addition to collecting an enormous amount of detailed biographic information, MyHeritage.com requires a paid subscription for use of site features beyond the basic free plan. To facilitate payment, MyHeritage.com collects personal credit card information. The site also uses its own tracking cookies — files that are placed onto the hard drive of your computer — and it may post third party advertising banners on personal family websites and on MyHeritage.com general use pages. Cookies received with banner ads may or may not be collected or controlled by the company. This means they may be controlled by any entity with which MyHeritage offers cooperation.
At a time when individuals are revealing personal information through social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, many people might use a site such as MyHeritage.com without considering the consequences. At Facebook, people are posting the minutiae of everyday life, but at MyHeritage.com individuals are revealing their entire family history, including biographic data, and putting that data into the hands of strangers. With identity theft globally at an all time high and financial institutions and national registries employing state-of-the-art technologies to protect biographic data, people must be more vigilant in shielding personal information.
It must be added that MyHeritage.com has used some interesting tactics in advertising its services as well. In graphics put out to the media promoting its software offering, the Saudi flag was used along with other flag symbols. This was most likely to indicate that the software is available with an Arabic interface. Less informed consumers might perceive this as some sort of endorsement of the product by the Saudi government – which is not true.
As part of efforts to keep local authorities informed of possible security issues within their top level domains, Arab News apprised a local information security firm of the MyHeritage.ae website. This resulted yesterday in a presentation of the website and its activities to the authorities in the UAE. The whois domain registration shows MyHeritage.ae registered to an American Internet host. Nevertheless, the contents of the site prove that the Israeli headquartered company is behind the site’s services. Users should carefully consider whether providing data to set up a family tree at the site is in their best interests.