Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Family Tree is operated by APP STAR FAMILY PTE. LTD. In this Privacy Policy, “Family Tree,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to the Family Tree app and services operated by APP STAR FAMILY PTE. LTD.

If you have a privacy question or request, contact us at info@appstarfamily.net.

2. The family information you create

Family Tree lets you create and preserve information about your family. Depending on how you use the app, this may include:

• names and family relationships;
• birth, death and other life-event information;
• places, dates and occupations;
• photographs and documents;
• stories, Memories and family recollections;
• research notes, clues, sources and conclusions; and
• other information you choose to add to your family history.

Your normal Family Tree library is designed to be local-first. We do not upload your complete family library to our Research service merely because you create, browse or edit your family tree.

3. Memories, photographs and documents

You can save Memories, photographs, documents and contextual family information in Family Tree. These materials form part of your family library and are handled according to the app's local storage and backup features.

You are responsible for ensuring that you have the right or appropriate permission to store information, photographs and documents that relate to other people, particularly living people and children.

4. Automated Research

Family Tree includes an optional automated Research feature. Research only begins when you deliberately choose to investigate a question.

To perform an automated investigation, Family Tree may send a limited research context to our hosted Research service. Depending on the question and information you have chosen to provide, that context may include:

• your research question;
• the selected person's name;
• relevant dates and historical places;
• relevant accepted family facts;
• limited information about relevant deceased relatives; and
• research clues or uncertainty you choose to include.

Family Tree is designed to limit this context to information relevant to the investigation rather than sending your entire family library.

Photographs, documents, unrelated family members, Memories and other private library material are not automatically sent merely because you start a Research investigation.

5. AI and public-source research

Automated Research may use OpenAI technology and publicly available web sources to help investigate genealogy questions. Information included in a Research request may therefore be processed by our Research service, OpenAI, and public-web research systems as necessary to provide the investigation.

Research results may include possible identities, facts, relationships, source references, conflicting evidence, uncertainty and suggestions for what to investigate next.

Automated Research is a research aid, not a guarantee of genealogical accuracy. Historical sources can be incomplete, contradictory or refer to different people with similar names.

Research findings do not automatically rewrite your accepted family tree. You remain in control of reviewing information before making changes to your family history.

6. Research service data

Our hosted Research service processes limited technical and operational information needed to provide and protect automated Research. This can include:

• Research job and status information;
• pseudonymous identifiers used to separate customers and devices;
• short-lived authorization and session information;
• usage information used to enforce Research limits;
• technical information used to prevent duplicate requests and abuse;
• request duration, tool usage and token usage; and
• estimated service cost and technical outcome information.

We design operational cost and reliability records to avoid including family names, Research questions, Research findings or other family content where that information is not needed for the operational purpose.

Some temporary Research service data may be retained for limited periods so that investigations can complete, reconnect correctly, prevent duplicate paid requests, enforce limits and protect the service.

7. Subscription and purchase information

Family Tree Premium subscriptions are purchased through Apple's App Store. Apple processes the purchase and payment transaction.

Family Tree does not receive your full payment-card information from Apple.

We use RevenueCat to help manage subscription entitlement information. This allows the app and our Research service to determine whether FamilyTreePro access is active and whether Premium features are available.

8. App and device integrity

Family Tree uses security mechanisms, including Apple's App Attest, to help verify legitimate app instances and protect hosted Research from unauthorized use and abuse.

This can involve processing technical app-integrity information, signed Apple purchase evidence, pseudonymous device credentials and short-lived Research authorization information.

These mechanisms are used for security, entitlement verification, service protection and abuse prevention rather than to build an advertising profile about you.

9. Premium access and preserved data

Normal access to Family Tree's family library, Memories and automated Research requires an active FamilyTreePro entitlement under the current version of the service.

If your Premium entitlement expires, Family Tree does not intentionally delete your family history simply because the subscription ended. Your preserved content may remain stored while normal app access is locked until Premium access is restored.

Family Tree provides designated options for subscription recovery, privacy controls and family-data export even when normal Premium access is unavailable.

10. Backups and export

Family Tree lets you create a protected backup of your family data. You choose where to save and store exported backup files.

Protected backups use a password chosen by you. Keep both your backup file and its password somewhere safe. If a backup password is lost, Family Tree may be unable to recover or decrypt that backup for you.

Exporting a backup does not transfer ownership of your family information to us.

11. Information about living people and children

Family trees naturally may contain information about living relatives, including children.

Please take particular care when recording or sharing information about living people. You should only add personal information, photographs or documents when you have an appropriate reason and any permission required by applicable law.

Family Tree is not intended as a service specifically directed to children.

12. Service providers

We use a limited number of service providers to operate features of Family Tree. Depending on the feature you use, these may include:

• Apple — App Store purchases, StoreKit, device and app-integrity services.
• RevenueCat — subscription and entitlement infrastructure.
• OpenAI — technology used to provide automated genealogy Research.
• Hosting and infrastructure providers — systems used to operate Family Tree's hosted Research service and website.

These providers process information according to their role in providing the relevant service and their applicable terms and privacy practices.

13. What we do not do

Family Tree is not designed around advertising profiles or the sale of your family history.

We do not sell your family tree, Memories, photographs or Research questions to advertisers.

We do not use your family library to automatically change accepted genealogy without your action.

14. Data retention

Family information stored locally remains under the app's storage, deletion and backup behavior until it is removed, replaced or the app's data is otherwise deleted.

Hosted Research information and technical records are retained only as needed for purposes such as completing investigations, reconnecting to jobs, enforcing limits, preventing duplicate requests, security, troubleshooting and legitimate operational requirements.

Different categories of technical information may have different retention periods. We aim to avoid retaining identifiable family content in operational records when it is not necessary.

15. Your choices and privacy rights

Depending on where you live, applicable privacy law may give you rights relating to your personal information, including rights to request access, correction, deletion, restriction, objection or portability.

Family Tree also provides in-app tools for managing, exporting and deleting family information according to the capabilities of the current app.

To make a privacy request relating to information processed by our hosted services, contact info@appstarfamily.net. We may need to verify a request before acting on it.

16. Security

We use technical and organizational measures intended to protect Family Tree and its hosted services. These include authorization controls, protected server-side credentials, app-integrity checks and privacy-conscious service design.

No method of storage or transmission can be guaranteed to be completely secure. You should also protect your device, backup files and backup passwords.

17. International processing

Family Tree and its service providers may process information in countries other than the country where you live. Where applicable, we use appropriate measures for international processing and expect our service providers to handle information in accordance with applicable privacy requirements.

18. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy as Family Tree evolves, when our data practices change, or when legal or operational requirements change.

When we make changes, we will update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page. If a change materially affects how Family Tree handles personal information, we may also provide additional notice where appropriate.

19. Contact us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, Family Tree's privacy practices, or a privacy request, contact:

APP STAR FAMILY PTE. LTD.
Email: info@appstarfamily.net