Privacy Policy

1. Who we are and what this covers

The Family Archive, United States of America, operates thefamilyarchive.app and is responsible for personal information we process to provide the Service. Our privacy contact is support@thefamilyarchive.app. This policy covers our website and archive tools. Independent services you choose to visit have their own policies.

Family members who decide what information to upload, disclose or publish may also have their own obligations under privacy law. This policy does not give an uploader permission to share someone else’s information.

2. Information we collect

• Account information: your email address, username, display name, password hash, security settings, connected sign-in identifiers and preferences. We do not store your password in readable form.
• Family and research material: people, relationships, dates, places, biographies, photographs, source documents, citations, notes, tasks, book content and sharing permissions you or authorized collaborators contribute. This may include information about people who do not have accounts.
• Activity and technical information: requests to the Service, IP addresses, browser or device details supplied with requests, security and error events, edits, permission changes and information needed to operate sessions and troubleshoot failures.
• Billing information: when billing is enabled, customer and subscription identifiers, plan and payment status, transaction or invoice references and limited payment-method details supplied by the payment provider. Card entry is handled by Stripe; we do not store full card numbers or card security codes.
• Communications: information you provide in support, privacy, copyright and other requests.

We collect information directly from you, from collaborators who contribute family history, from your interaction with the Service, and from connected providers when you use their features. Do not upload sensitive identification numbers, financial account credentials or confidential material that is unnecessary for family history.

3. Why we use information

We use information to authenticate accounts; manage family permissions; store and present records; search permitted material; support research, maps and publishing; provide exports; process subscriptions when available; respond to requests; prevent misuse; maintain reliability; and meet legal obligations.

We do not use private family material for targeted advertising. The current archive does not connect family content to an external generative AI service. If an optional feature introduces a new external processing purpose, we will explain the feature, relevant provider and choices before enabling that processing, and obtain consent where required.

Where a law requires a legal basis, we rely as appropriate on performing our agreement with you, legitimate interests in operating and securing the Service balanced against your rights, legal obligations, and consent for processing that requires it. Where special-category information requires an additional legal condition, we must have that condition before processing it. You can withdraw consent for consent-based processing without affecting its earlier lawful use.

4. Family access and public sharing

Access depends on the workspace, record visibility, member role and applicable living-person protections. Workspace owners and authorized editors can manage collaborators and sharing. Public eligible records may appear in public biography discovery. A paid membership does not override these permissions.

Living-person controls do not replace a review of free-text biographies, photographs, captions and source documents. When you make information public or distribute a book or export, visitors and recipients may copy it. We cannot guarantee removal from search-engine caches, printed books or other people’s downloads. Contact support about information that you believe has been exposed improperly.

5. When information is shared

We disclose information only as reasonably necessary in these circumstances:

• Your instructions: with permitted family collaborators, the public when you choose public sharing, and recipients of exports you distribute.
• Service providers: hosting and infrastructure, payment processing when enabled, and other providers needed to operate and support the Service, under appropriate confidentiality, security and purpose restrictions.
• Optional outside features: a provider may receive information when you use its feature. Our hosting uses DigitalOcean. Maps may request tiles from outside map providers, which receive request information such as IP address and the viewed map area. Place searches may be sent to a geocoding provider. Google sign-in, where enabled, supplies identity information such as account identifier, email, name and profile picture; it does not grant us access to Gmail or Google contacts. Stripe processes information necessary for checkout and billing. Discord and outside research links are independent services.
• Legal and safety needs: to comply with a binding legal requirement, protect people or the Service, investigate unlawful activity, or establish or defend legal claims. We assess requests and limit disclosure as appropriate.
• Business changes: in a merger, acquisition or similar transfer, subject to continuing privacy obligations and legally required notice or choices.

We do not sell personal information or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising. We do not give a family member unrestricted access merely because they are related to someone in the archive.

6. Retention and security

We retain information for as long as reasonably needed for the purposes described here. Relevant factors include whether your account or archive remains active, the needs of other authorized contributors to shared records, requests for removal, applicable legal duties, billing records and security or dispute needs. Canceling a subscription alone is not a deletion request.

After an approved deletion, information may remain temporarily in restricted backups until those copies are replaced or removed through our backup process, and records may be retained when legally necessary. Previously distributed public copies and books are outside our control. We do not promise indefinite storage or a fixed lifetime for an archive.

We use measures intended to protect information, including encrypted web connections, account authentication, workspace access controls and protected media delivery. Access for operation, maintenance or support is limited to authorized purposes. No system or transmission is completely secure; report suspected incidents promptly to support@thefamilyarchive.app.

7. Your choices and legal rights

Use Account Settings to review available profile, security, privacy and export controls. Manage family visibility and collaborators only where you have permission. For an access, correction, deletion, restriction, portability, objection or consent request, email support@thefamilyarchive.app. Our Your Privacy Choices page explains how to make a request.

Your rights depend on the law that applies to you. We verify identity in a proportionate way, may need information to locate the relevant records, and respond within the applicable legal period. Some requests are subject to exemptions and the rights of others. We will explain a refusal or limitation and available review options. You may contact your privacy regulator where that right applies, and we will not unlawfully discriminate against you for exercising privacy rights.

8. Cookies, international users and children

See Cookies & Settings for information about login cookies, browser preferences, local storage and outside features. The current site does not offer optional advertising or analytics cookies.

We operate in the United States. Information may be processed in the United States and other locations used by our service providers, where legal protections may differ. Where applicable law requires protections for an international transfer, we must use an appropriate lawful transfer mechanism rather than rely on this notice alone.

Account holders must be adults aged 18 or older. The Service is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect account information directly from them. Adults who upload family information concerning children must have lawful authority and use suitable privacy controls. Contact us if you believe a child has provided information directly or a child’s information has been shared improperly.

9. Updates and contact

We may update this policy as the Service or legal requirements change. The date above identifies the current version. We will give notice of material changes and seek consent where required before introducing a new use that requires it. Questions or complaints: support@thefamilyarchive.app, The Family Archive, United States of America.