Privacy Policy — AncestorOS

1. Introduction

AncestorOS ("we", "us", "our") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains what personal data we collect when you use the AncestorOS platform, how we use it, and the rights you have over your information.

By creating an account or using AncestorOS, you agree to the collection and use of information described in this policy. If you do not agree with these practices, please do not use our service.

2. Information We Collect

Account Data

When you register for AncestorOS, we collect your email address, display name, and account type (personal or professional) through Firebase Authentication.

Profile & Genealogy Data

The core content you create within AncestorOS is stored in Firebase Firestore and includes:

Family tree data — names, birth dates, death dates, places, and relationships of family members
Research logs, source citations, and notes you record
Documents and media files you upload to Firebase Storage
Timelines and memories you create or annotate

Professional Data (Professional Plan Only)

If you subscribe to our Professional plan and use AncestorOS to manage client engagements, we also store:

Client names and contact information you enter
Project details, work orders, and research deliverables
Invoices, time entries, and expense records

Usage Data

We collect anonymous usage information — including page views, feature interactions, and error logs — via Firebase Analytics to help us understand how the product is used and where improvements are needed.

Payment Data

All payment processing is handled by Stripe. We store only your Stripe customer ID and the status of your subscription or invoices. We never store, see, or have access to your full card number, CVV, or billing address.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the data we collect for the following purposes:

Service delivery: to authenticate you, sync your data across devices, and power all features of the platform
Payment processing: to manage subscriptions, process charges via Stripe, and send receipts
Product improvement: to diagnose errors, analyze usage patterns, and prioritize feature development
Communications: to send transactional emails (password resets, billing notices) and optional product update emails — you may opt out of marketing emails at any time from your account settings
Legal compliance: to meet our obligations under applicable law and enforce our Terms of Service

          We do not sell your personal data or your genealogy data to third parties. Ever.
        

4. Data Storage & Security

All AncestorOS data is stored on Google Firebase infrastructure in United States data centers, including Cloud Firestore (database), Firebase Storage (files and media), and Firebase Authentication (identity).

Encryption at rest: All data stored on Firebase infrastructure is encrypted at rest using AES-256.
Encryption in transit: All data transmitted between your browser or app and our servers uses TLS 1.2 or higher.
Password security: Firebase Authentication handles password hashing using industry-standard algorithms. We never see or store your raw password.
Access controls: Firebase Security Rules are configured so that each authenticated user can only read and write their own data. No user can access another user's genealogy data.
Security reviews: We periodically review our security rules and practices to ensure continued protection.

While we take significant precautions to protect your data, no method of electronic transmission or storage is 100% secure. We encourage you to use a strong, unique password for your AncestorOS account.

5. Third-Party Services

AncestorOS relies on the following third-party services to operate. Each has its own privacy policy governing the data they process on our behalf:

Google Firebase — Authentication, Firestore database, file storage, and analytics. Firebase Privacy Policy
Stripe — Subscription billing and payment processing. Stripe Privacy Policy
Anthropic — When you use AI features (Document Transcription, AI Research Plan, Historical Context), your request data — including uploaded document images and family member information — is sent to Anthropic's Claude API for processing. Anthropic does not use this data to train its models and processes it only to return a response. Anthropic Privacy Policy

We do not share your personal data with any advertising networks or data brokers.

6. Your Rights

All Users

You may access, export, or delete your account data at any time from the Settings section of your AncestorOS account. You can export your family tree in GEDCOM format and download your uploaded files.

EU and UK Users (GDPR)

If you are located in the European Union or United Kingdom, you have the following rights under the General Data Protection Regulation:

Right of access — request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
Right to rectification — request correction of inaccurate data
Right to erasure — request deletion of your personal data ("right to be forgotten")
Right to data portability — receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format
Right to object — object to processing based on legitimate interests

California Residents (CCPA)

California residents have the right to know what personal information we collect, request deletion of that information, and opt out of the sale of personal information. AncestorOS does not sell personal information to third parties.

Exercising Your Rights

To exercise any of the rights described above, please contact us at privacy@ancestoros.com. We will respond within 30 days.

7. Data Retention

We retain your account and genealogy data for as long as your account remains active. If you delete your account, we will remove your personal data and genealogy records from our active systems within 30 days.

Certain data may be retained beyond this period where required by law (for example, billing records for tax compliance purposes) or as permitted by applicable regulations.

Anonymized, aggregated analytics data that cannot identify you individually may be retained indefinitely for product improvement purposes.

8. Children's Privacy

AncestorOS is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe that your child has provided personal data to us, please contact us at privacy@ancestoros.com and we will promptly delete that information.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will notify you by sending an email to the address associated with your account and/or by displaying a prominent notice within the AncestorOS app.

The "Last updated" date at the top of this page indicates when the policy was last revised. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

10. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data, please contact our privacy team:

Email: privacy@ancestoros.com

We aim to respond to all privacy inquiries within 5 business days.