Effective July 18, 2026

FamilyRoots Privacy Policy

FamilyRoots is designed to help you build and preserve a private family archive. Family history is personal, so the app is built to collect as little data as possible.

Information You Create in the App

FamilyRoots stores the information you choose to add, such as names of family members, family relationships, birthdays, anniversaries, birthplaces, notes, memories, profile photos, photo albums, family events, voice story recordings and their transcripts, scanned documents and their recognized text, and life story pages.

On-Device Processing

Voice story transcription and document text recognition happen entirely on your device using Apple's on-device speech recognition and text recognition. Recordings and scans are not sent to FamilyRoots or any third-party service for processing. If your device or language does not support on-device recognition, no transcript is produced; there is no server fallback.

How Your Data Is Stored

By default, FamilyRoots stores your family archive on your device.

If you choose to enable iCloud sync, FamilyRoots can store a private synced copy of your family archive using Apple's iCloud and CloudKit services associated with your Apple ID.

If you choose to share a family invite, FamilyRoots creates an encrypted family snapshot that can be imported by someone who has the invite code.

What FamilyRoots Does Not Do

• FamilyRoots does not require a FamilyRoots account.
• FamilyRoots does not show ads.
• FamilyRoots does not sell personal data.
• FamilyRoots does not use third-party analytics SDKs.
• FamilyRoots does not use third-party advertising SDKs.
• FamilyRoots does not track you across apps or websites.

Apple Platform Services

FamilyRoots may use Apple services and device capabilities that are part of iOS, each only if you use the related feature:

• iCloud and CloudKit, if you enable sync or family sharing.
• Photo Library access, if you choose profile or album photos.
• Camera, if you use the document scanner.
• Microphone, if you record voice stories or use interview mode.
• On-device speech recognition, if you use voice story transcription.
• Face ID or Touch ID, if you enable the app lock. Biometric data never leaves your device and is handled by iOS.
• Apple Maps, if you view the family map of birthplaces. The app does not access your device location.
• Local notifications, if you enable family date reminders.

These services are provided by Apple and governed by Apple's policies and platform behavior.

Data Sharing

Your data is not shared with other people unless you choose to share it. If you use Family Sharing invite features, the person you share with can import the family snapshot included in that invite.

Data Deletion

You can delete family members and family data within the app, including voice stories, transcripts, scanned documents, and album photos. You can also reset local data from Settings. If you use iCloud sync, data synced through iCloud may remain in your private iCloud storage until it is removed through the app's synced data flow or your Apple account storage lifecycle.

Children's Privacy

FamilyRoots is a general family archiving tool and is not directed specifically to children.

Changes to This Policy

This policy may be updated as the app evolves. When it changes, the effective date on this page will be updated.

Contact

For privacy questions or support, please use the contact options on the FamilyRoots Support page.