Privacy

Last updated 6 November 2026. This covers the Tree of Us website and the Tree of Us helper for Chrome.

The short version

Your family tree stays on your own computer. Tree of Us has no accounts, no advertising and no analytics, and it does not upload your trees, photos or stories to us.

Where your family tree is kept

Everything you import or create (people, relationships, notes, stories, photos, videos, settings, safety copies) is stored in your browser's own storage on your computer. The website is a set of files; the part that stores and merges your data runs inside your browser. Clearing your browser's “cookies and site data” for this website deletes it, which is why the app offers encrypted backups to a folder you choose.

When information leaves your computer

Only when you use a feature that needs another service, and only what that feature needs:

• Research and maps. When you research a person or open the map, names, years and place names are sent to Wikipedia and Wikidata (Wikimedia Foundation), WikiTree, and OpenStreetMap's Nominatim place search, to look up matches. WikiTree only accepts these searches from its own websites, so they pass through a small relay on Tree of Us's web host on the way; the relay passes on the search and nothing else, and keeps nothing. Each service's own privacy policy applies.
• Map tiles. The map loads its images from OpenStreetMap's tile servers.
• AI features (optional). If you connect an AI service (OpenRouter, Google Gemini or OpenAI), then when you ask for research, a restored photo, a scene or a living portrait, the person's details and, where needed, their photo are sent from your browser to that service to produce the result. OpenRouter passes requests on to the model you chose (OpenAI or Google). Your connection key is stored only in your browser. That service's own terms and privacy policy apply, and it bills your own account.
• Google Flow. “Open in Google Flow” copies a prompt to your clipboard and opens Google's website; nothing is sent until you paste it there.
• Hosting. The website files are served by Cloudflare, which, like any web host, sees standard request details such as your IP address. Apart from the WikiTree searches described above, your family data is not part of those requests.

Sharing

“Send a family copy” and “Download .ged” make files on your computer. You decide whether to send them to anyone. A family copy can hide living people first. Backups are encrypted with a recovery code that only you have; without it they cannot be opened.

The Chrome helper

The helper reads the Ancestry pages you open yourself (people, dates, places, relationships and portraits), and only when you ask it to capture a tree. It never browses Ancestry on its own and never sees your Ancestry password. What it captures is held in the extension's storage in your browser until you click “Send”, and then it is handed to the Tree of Us tab in the same browser. It is not sent to us or to anyone else. The helper does not track your browsing, show adverts or sell data.

Children

Tree of Us is not directed at children and does not knowingly collect information from them.

Changes and questions

If this policy changes, the new version will appear on this page with a new date. For questions, use the contact details on the Tree of Us listing in the Chrome Web Store.