Privacy Policy

The short version

• Your family tree is private. Only the people invited to that tree can see it.
• We use your information only to run the app. We do not sell it, show ads, or track you across other apps or websites, and we do not use third-party analytics.
• You can delete your account at any time, in the app or on the web (Me → Delete account). How to delete your account.

What we collect

Account information. Your name, email address, and password (stored only as a secure hash). You can also add a phone number, WhatsApp number, profile photo, birth date, short bio, and preferred language. If you sign in with Apple or Google, we receive the name, email address, and account identifier that the provider shares with us.

Family-tree information you or your relatives enter. Details about family members, such as names, maiden names, gender, birth and death dates, birthplaces (including map coordinates, which your device works out), photos, short bios, relationships, and optional email addresses or phone numbers. Some of these people may not use Kindred themselves. Please add only information you have a right to share, and be respectful of living relatives’ wishes.

Content you share. Feed posts, photos, comments, likes, events (such as birthdays, anniversaries, memorials, and gatherings), and messages you send to family members.

Invitations. When you invite someone, we store the name, email address, or phone number you provide so we can send the invite and link the person to the tree.

Device and notification information. If you allow notifications, we store your device’s push token. We also store your channel preferences: which channels (in-app push, email, WhatsApp, SMS) you agree to receive family messages on.

What we don’t collect. We don’t access your device’s contacts or track your location, and we don’t use advertising identifiers or analytics or advertising SDKs. This website sets no cookies and uses no analytics.

How we use it

We use your information only to provide Kindred:

• to create and secure your account, including emailing 6-digit verification and password-reset codes;
• to show your family tree, the Origins map, the family feed, and upcoming family dates to the members of your tree;
• to deliver messages, invitations, and reminders on the channels each person has chosen;
• to keep the service working and safe, and to prevent abuse;
• to reply when you contact us.

We don’t use your information for advertising or profiling, and we don’t sell or rent it. Kindred sends announcements about the app only if you opt in.

Who can see your information

• Members of your tree can see the tree, its people, posts, comments, events, and messages addressed to them. Members can see each other’s names and photos, and the contact details needed for messaging.
• People you invite can see the name of the tree, who invited them, and the name of the person they are being linked to before they join.
• Service providers that host or deliver data for us (listed below), who handle it only on our instructions.
• Authorities, if the law requires it, or to protect the safety of our users or others.

Service providers

A message sent through email, WhatsApp, or SMS travels through those services and is also subject to their privacy policies.

International transfers

Our providers may process data in countries other than yours, including the United States. Where the law requires it, we use appropriate safeguards (such as standard contractual clauses).

How long we keep it

We keep your information while your account is active. When you delete your account, we delete your account profile, tree memberships, and registered devices. Copies in backups are removed within 60 days.

Shared family content. A family tree is shared by its members. When you delete your account:

• people in the tree (including the person record that represented you) stay in the tree, unlinked from your account, so the rest of the family keeps its tree. A tree admin can delete them, or you can ask us to;
• your posts, comments, and likes are deleted. [CONFIRM: what happens to photos you added to people in the tree and to messages you sent].

Messages already delivered by email, WhatsApp, or SMS stay in recipients’ inboxes. We can’t delete them.

Your choices and rights

• Access and edit: update your profile and the information you entered at any time in the app.
• Delete: Me → Delete account. You can also email info@kindredplace.app to ask us to delete your data, including information a relative entered about you.
• Channels: choose which channels (push, email, WhatsApp, SMS) you receive family messages on, in Settings. You can turn off push notifications in your phone’s settings.
• Leave a tree at any time.
• Depending on where you live, you may also have the right to get a copy of your data, object to or restrict processing, or complain to a data-protection authority. Contact us to exercise these rights.

Legal basis (EU/UK). We process your data to perform our contract with you (providing the app), and on our legitimate interest in keeping the service secure. Where you give consent (for example, to optional channels), we rely on that consent.

Security

We use encrypted connections (HTTPS), store passwords only as secure hashes, and limit who can access data. No system is perfectly secure. If you think your account has been compromised, contact us.

Children

Children under 13 can have their own Kindred account only with a parent’s approval. This is how it works:

• Asking for a date of birth. Everyone who creates an account is first asked for their date of birth, before anything else. If the person is under 13, we ask only for their first name, an email address to sign in with, a password, and a parent’s email address. Children can’t sign up with Apple or Google.
• Parental consent. We email the parent a link that explains what Kindred is and what we collect. The parent approves from their own Kindred account (an adult account, which they can create from that link), or declines. Until a parent approves, no account is created. If the parent declines, or doesn’t respond within 7 days, we delete the request and keep nothing about the child. We keep a record of each approval (who approved, and when). The approving parent becomes the child’s guardian on Kindred.
• What we collect from a child. First name, date of birth, the login email address, the password (stored only as a secure hash), and the content they post in their family’s private trees: posts, photos, comments, likes, events and messages. We don’t ask children for a phone or WhatsApp number.
• How we use it. Only to run Kindred for the child and their family. A child’s information is visible only to the members of the family trees they belong to. No ads, no tracking, no profiling, no marketing messages, and we never sell or rent a child’s information.
• Parents stay in control. A parent can review their child’s account and delete it at any time, in the app or on the web under Me → Children, or by writing to info@kindredplace.app. Deleting the account deletes the child’s posts, comments and messages; the person in the family tree stays, unlinked. Emails Kindred sends to a child are also sent to their parent.

Family trees may also include information about children who don’t use Kindred, entered by adult relatives. A parent or guardian can ask us to remove it.

Changes

If we change this policy, we will update the date above and, for significant changes, let you know in the app.

Contact

Questions about privacy? Write to info@kindredplace.app.