United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit ____________________ No. 22-2813 ALEX COATNEY, individually and on behalf of similarly situated individuals, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellees,

v. ANCESTRY.COM DNA, LLC, Defendant-Appellant. ____________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. No. 3:21-cv-01368-DWD — David W. Dugan, Judge. ____________________

ARGUED DECEMBER 6, 2023 — DECIDED FEBRUARY 15, 2024 ____________________

Before FLAUM, EASTERBROOK, and BRENNAN, Circuit Judges. BRENNAN, Circuit Judge. Ancestry.com sells genealogy tools to aid users in researching their family history. Regis- tered users of its website must first agree to an arbitration clause. In this case, guardians activated DNA test kits through their accounts on behalf of their children. Those children are the plaintiffs here. When another business acquired Ancestry, the plaintiffs contended that Ancestry violated their privacy 2 No. 22-2813 rights by disclosing confidential genetic information and sued. Ancestry moved to compel arbitration. Sitting in diversity and applying Illinois law, the district court ruled that the plaintiffs were not bound to arbitrate their claims under an agreement between their guardians and An- cestry. We agree and affirm the decision of the district court. I. Background Ancestry.com DNA, LLC is a genealogy and consumer genomics company. 1 Users who create online accounts may purchase a DNA test kit through which Ancestry collects con- sumer saliva samples. Ancestry then analyzes the genetic in- formation in those samples and returns genealogical and health information to the purchaser through its website. Individuals who purchase and activate Ancestry DNA test kits must agree to Ancestry’s Terms & Conditions. Under the Terms, only adults may purchase or activate a DNA test kit. However, minors thirteen to eighteen years old may still use Ancestry’s DNA service. A parent or legal guardian may acti- vate a DNA test kit and send in a minor’s saliva sample using an account for the child that the parent or guardian manages. Between 2016 and 2019, guardians purchased and acti- vated test kits on behalf of plaintiffs, who were all minors at the time. When activating the kits, the guardians took a num- ber of steps. In January 2016, N.S.’s guardian accessed Ances- try’s website to enter N.S.’s personal information, confirm she was a parent or guardian providing a minor’s DNA, and

1 Genomics is a field of biology focused on studying all the DNA of an organism—that is, its genome. National Human Genome Research In- stitute. https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/genomics No. 22-2813 3 verify her review and acceptance of the Terms. Coatney’s guardian followed a similar process when activating a DNA test kit on Coatney’s behalf in December 2017, and also com- pleted additional, separate terms contained in a DNA Pro- cessing Consent. H.S.’s and B.H.’s guardian completed these same steps when activating test kits in August and September of 2019. 2 The DNA Processing Consent lists several provisions re- lated to Ancestry’s use of a minor’s DNA and a guardian’s agreement. It states, “When you activate your child’s DNA test kit, you consent to Ancestry’s collection and processing of your child’s DNA data.” A guardian’s consent grants Ances- try permission to, among other things:  “Convert the physical DNA sample into DNA data and use your child’s DNA data to provide reports about your child’s ancestral origins;”  “Identify your child