BackupMyTree and World Vital Records are Sunsetting



MyHeritage announced that they will be sunsetting both World Vital Records/ Family Link and BackupMyTree. MyHeritage acquired those services in 2011, and is retiring them on September 1, 2018.

In general, it is not unusual for a company to sunset products or smaller companies that they acquired some time after acquiring them. It has happened with video game companies, social media companies, and more. It is not surprising that sunsetting happens with genealogy companies and services as well. That said, those who are using the things that will be retired will probably be less than thrilled about it.

MyHeritage provided some explanation about why it is sunsetting BackupMyTree. It originally was a free service for backing up family trees, and it had a few thousand users (at it’s peak). The BackupMyTree software did not survive recent updates that Microsoft made to the Windows operating system.

The data that was backed up on BackupMyTree will be deleted on September 1, 2018. Those who used the service, and who would like a copy of their family tree from BackupMyTree, should download their backup before September 1, 2018.

MyHeritage also provided some explanation about why it is sunsetting World Vital Records and Family Link. Both of those services share the same pool of historical records. In 2012, all of the data on those services was transferred to MyHeritage SuperSearch, where the number of available records is more than triple what was originally available on those services.

World Vital Records / Family Link underwent a silent sunset under which almost no new subscribers have been added in the past three years. Current subscribers of World Vital Records or Family Link are entitled to a free Data subscription on MyHeritage for the same duration.

Those who have an active subscription on World Vital Records or Family Link that extends beyond September 1, 2018, and who find they do not yet have an equivalent subscriptions for free on MyHeritage can contact MyHeritage Support to get a free data subscription on MyHeritage for the duration of their current subscription.

MyHeritage will work with subscribers of the World Vital Records Library Edition to transition them to the MyHeritage Library Edition, which MyHeritage says is a superior product with three times more content. MyHeritage will give the Library subscribers an equivalent subscription on MyHeritage plus six additional months free to ease the transition.

Related Articles at FamilyTree.com:

* Family Link

* FamilyLink.com

* My Heritage Releases New Collections with 325 Million Records

< Return To Blog

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.