Two factor authentication

[Pauline]

Most Ancestry users will be aware that two factor authentication for viewing DNA results is being introduced, and when I tried to view my mine on Saturday, I found I had to set this up first.

That in itself was no problem, but once done we found we had been logged out of the Ancestry site on all of our devices, and could only log back in after waiting for an emailed code each time. There was no mention in the information sent out beforehand that two factor authentication would be needed to log on to the main site, only to view DNA results.

Normally I don’t log out of Ancestry, but this morning when I was hoping to check something quickly, I found I’d been logged out again, and had to wait ages for the email with the code to arrive (OK, probably only a minute to two, but I was in a rush) before I could get logged in again.

Are others finding they are getting logged out more frequently now, or was I just unlucky this morning?

 

[Susan48]

I had the option of allowing my device (i.e. my laptop) to be remembered so I no longer have to enter a code each time I log in.

 

[Pauline]

I’m pretty sure I ticked that option, so my devices ought to have been remembered, and I know my laptop is set up to keep Ancestry cookies. I’m less sure about cookies on my iPad though I don’t usually have a problem with sites not remembering me on it. Maybe there was a glitch this morning, though I’m not sure why it needed a code anyway as I wasn’t trying to look at DNA matches - that’s what the extra level of security is supposed to be for.

 

[Stuart]

I "requested " 2FA on Saturday - I had no choice. The message notifying me of that says:

We’ve received your request to activate Two-Step Verification on your account. In the future, when you log in to your account, you will receive an email or a text message on your phone with a 6-digit code to verify who you are.

Nothing there about it only applying for DNA matches.

I have not been asked to do 2FA again. The PC I use is turned off at night, and I "log on" via a bookmark (and have done each day since). This did not require any logon process on this PC before 2FA. I assume there is a time-out on that "remember me and my PC" setting, though it's been there so long I've forgotten how I set it up. I suspected that would stop with 2FA, but it seems not.

 

[Pauline]

Nothing there about it only applying for DNA matches

No, but the information given out in advance only mentioned it being for viewing DNA matches.

 

[Stuart]

No, but the information given out in advance only mentioned it being for viewing DNA matches.

This is the message I got early in November:

We’re adding an extra layer of security to AncestryDNA®

At Ancestry®, your privacy is a top priority, and we are committed to being good stewards of your personal information. As part of our efforts to protect your information, we offer two-step verification as an option to sign in to your Ancestry account.

Soon, to enhance the security of your account, we will begin requiring two-step verification as part of the sign-in process. You can enable this feature now in your account settings. If you need assistance, we’re always here to help.

So the heading suggests a second security step to open the DNA pages from elsewhere in the site. That sounds like it would need a significant change to the site design. The paragraph that follows describes what they have actually done.

If you do have a DNA test, your DNA data will make up the great majority of "your information", by most ways of counting. So I wonder whether this "extra layer" wording is saying it's only been introduced for those with a DNA test. Perhaps they feel the need to respond to some of the news about 23andMe's data leak (or rather theft).

Can anyone with no DNA test on Ancestry say whether they have been pushed into 2FA? Mind you, having wanted to introduce it specifically for DNA users, Ancestry are quite likely to extend it to everyone just because it seems like a good idea.

 

[Mitch_in_Notts]

I signed up to 2FA. Big mistake. The email codes take a minimum of 90 minutes to come through. Luckily once on my account having endured repeated waits on numerous occasions I finally turned it off and will not be restarting it. 90 minutes time lag is no use to the user.

 

[Pauline]

Having disabled it, can you still view your DNA matches?

 

[NikiMac]

I found DNA matches could still be viewed with the 2-step verification disabled but if you view Ancestry members trees shown under Hints the information as to whether their owners are related to you was no longer shown and that applied to searches of Family Trees too. I only use a desktop PC and stay logged in and so far am not being automatically logged out.

 

[peter]

Time lags may be imposed by your email provider - for example, Hotmail and Yahoo seem to routinely defer emails for an hour if they look like spam.

 

[peter]

I haven't been logged out since setting up 2FA three days ago. However, in view of the problems others have reported I just logged-out from Ancestry and logged-in again - I got the text message within a second or two. It may be that it's only emails that are being delayed.

 

[Pauline]

It may be that it's only emails that are being delayed.

Trouble is, for some of us a text message just isn't practical. My husband and I share our Ancestry account and use it on a number of different devices. Whichever of us it is, and whichever device, we can always access email. A text message is only sent to one phone, and because there are two of us, that phone may not be available. Annoying as it is to have to wait for an email, it would be even more annoying if the text arrived on a phone that had gone out for the day!

 

[Mitch_in_Notts]

Having disabled it, can you still view your DNA matches?

Yes Pauline no problem whatsoever.

 

[VTinOZ]

Are others finding they are getting logged out more frequently now, or was I just unlucky this morning?

I absolutely hate this 2 Factor rubbish. I spent 2 days seemingly in a loop of waiting hours for an email to arrive with a code, by the time it arrived it was no longer valid, infuriating. Finally I changed from my usual email address, used with Ancestry for 20 years, to a Gmail address. Yes it works, email arrives with code in a few minutes, enter code, all good. Every time I tick the remember me box, every time I have to wait for an email to log in again. I have set my browser to keep Ancestry cookies. Makes no difference, still have to sit & wait for email, enter code, before I can do anything. Very frustrating. I disabled the 2 Factor only to find the next time I tried to log in I was back to the enable 2 Factor.
I really hope you were just unlucky this morning Pauline because my experience of 2FA is awful & I haven't managed to resolve it still.

 

[Pauline]

I really hope you were just unlucky this morning Pauline because my experience of 2FA is awful & I haven't managed to resolve it still.

I haven't been logged out since, so fingers crossed.... And the longest I've had to wait for the email with the code is a minute or two, but even that feels like ages when you want to look up just the one thing, and do it quickly!

 

[peter]

I haven't been logged out since, so fingers crossed.... And the longest I've had to wait for the email with the code is a minute or two, but even that feels like ages when you want to look up just the one thing, and do it quickly!

If time is so precious why log-out?

 

[Pauline]

If time is so precious why log-out?

I didn’t! I never log-out of sites like Ancestry as a matter of choice, but sometimes you find you’ve been logged out without wanting to, as we’ve discussed elsewhere with FMP. That’s what made it so frustrating, expecting to be able to check something quickly, it’s annoying enough to find you’ve been logged out without the added delay of waiting for a code.

 

[peter]

I don't think I've ever been logged-out of Ancestry - certainly not recently. But I do have Ancestry permanently open in 10-12 tabs.

 

[Pauline]

It’s only pretty recently it’s happened to me, including a few times before the 2FA. When I had to sign up for that, the first thing that happened was that we were logged out on all of our devices and had to get a code to log in again on each one. Since then, I’ve been logged out again once, which was on my iPad, and I don’t keep tabs permanently open on that.

 

[Pauline]

Thinking about it, I’m not at all convinced that keeping tabs open (or not) has anything to do with being logged out of Ancestry. We’ve never kept multiple tabs open permanently on any of our devices at Ancestry (or any other site), but it’s only in the past couple of months I’ve started being logged out occasionally.