Terms of Service

Before using or signing in to RootSpring, please review the following terms. To avoid any misunderstandings, these terms are displayed in English only. RootSpring's interface supports 12 languages, but if you would like to read this Agreement in your own language, please use a translation tool.

RootSpring ("Service","we", "us", "our") allows individuals and families to build, edit, and share a visual family tree online. Privacy-related requests may be sent via the feedback form ([Feedback Form URL]).

This Terms of Use Agreement ("Agreement") is a legally binding document outlining our policy for acceptable use of the Service, content posted on RootSpring, and your rights, obligations and restrictions in using the Service. By using the Service in any way, you agree to be bound by this Agreement, whether you have signed in or not. You are only authorized to use the Service if you agree to abide by all applicable laws and this Agreement. If you do not accept this Agreement, you should discontinue use of the Service immediately.

We may modify this Agreement at any time. Such a modification shall be effective immediately upon being posted at [Terms URL] or any other page linked from the Service. You agree to be bound by any changes when you use the Service after a modification is posted. We recommend you review this Agreement regularly.

1. Eligibility

Use of the Service is void where prohibited. By using the Service, you represent and warrant that (a) all information you submit is truthful and accurate; (b) you will maintain the accuracy of such information; (c) you are 14 years of age or older; and (d) your use of the Service does not violate any applicable law or regulation. If you are between 14 and 18 years of age, you represent and warrant that you have the legal consent of your parent or guardian to access the Service and agree to this Agreement.

This Agreement shall remain in full force and effect while you use the Service. We may terminate your usage of the Service at any time, without warning or liability. Even after your usage is terminated, this Agreement remains in full effect.

2. Account & Sign-In

RootSpring uses Google Sign-In, managed through Keycloak, for authentication. We do not create or store a separate username or password for your account — your account security depends on the security of your Google account. You agree not to use the account of any other party, to impersonate any other person, or to share access to your account in a way that circumvents RootSpring's invitation and role system. You agree to notify us immediately if you suspect unauthorized use of your account. You are solely responsible for all use of your account.

If you connect your own Google Drive as storage for a tree project, you authorize RootSpring to create and access files it creates within your Drive for that purpose only, via an encrypted access token. You may revoke this access at any time through your Google account settings; doing so may affect your ability to use Drive-backed projects.

3. Account Deletion

You may delete your account at any time via account settings. Deleting your account ends your access to the Service and stops our processing of your account data, subject to the retention notes in Section 9.

If you are the sole owner of a tree project, deleting your account will result in that project and its Content being deleted as well — we recommend exporting any project you wish to keep before closing your account. Deleting your account does not remove other family members from projects they own. As with other removal requests, deleted information may remain for a limited period in backups, logs, or version history before being permanently deleted, and we may retain limited information as described in Section 9.

4. Acceptable & Personal Use

The Service is for the personal use of you and your family only and may not be used for any commercial purpose except as specifically approved by us. Illegal and/or unauthorized use of the Service, including collecting user details for the purpose of sending unsolicited email, is prohibited. You may not solicit personal information from other users for commercial or unlawful purposes.

5. Collaboration, Invitations, and Version History

RootSpring lets you invite others to a tree project with a defined role, and supports real-time multi-user editing and live presence (showing who else is currently active on a project). Invitation links carry a role, not an individual's email address, and can be managed or revoked by the project owner at any time.

Every change made to a tree — by you or by anyone you've invited — is recorded, including who made the change and when, so that any past state of the tree can be reviewed or restored. This history is retained as part of the project for as long as the project exists.

6. Your Content and License Grant

We do not claim any ownership rights in the names, birth surnames, genders, dates, photos, biographical text, relationship details, or any other material (collectively, "Content") that you or your invited collaborators post to the Service. You retain all ownership rights in the Content you post, and continue to have the right to use it in all ways permitted by law.

By posting Content to the Service, you grant us a limited, non-exclusive, fully-paid, royalty-free license to host, reproduce, and process that Content in order to operate the Service — including displaying it on the canvas, generating layouts, maintaining version history, and producing exports you request. You also grant a limited, non-exclusive, fully-paid, royalty-free license to other members invited to a project, consistent with their assigned role, to view, edit (where their role permits), download, store, archive, and back up that Content for personal, family purposes.

7. How We Use Personal Information

Providing personal information to the Service is voluntary. If you choose not to provide certain information, some features may be unavailable or less useful, but you may still use the Service to the extent possible.

We process personal information to: provide, maintain, secure and improve the Service; enable you and invited collaborators to build, edit, view, restore, share, download and archive family trees; support real-time editing and presence features; manage accounts, sign-ins, invitations, roles and preferences (including language and light/dark mode); generate exports (standalone HTML, PDF, GEDCOM); respond to requests, feedback and support inquiries; send occasional service or operational notifications relating to your account; prevent abuse, fraud, unauthorized access and unlawful activity; enforce this Agreement; comply with legal obligations; and understand how visitors use the Service through analytics tools. We will not use Content you post to the Service to create advertising profiles or target personalized advertisements.

8. Access, Disclosure, and Legal Compliance

We may access, use, preserve or disclose personal information where reasonably necessary to operate, support, secure or troubleshoot the Service; enforce this Agreement; prevent fraud, abuse or unlawful activity; respond to user requests; comply with law or legal process; or protect the rights, safety and property of users, RootSpring or others.

9. Access, Correction, and Removal Requests

Where required by applicable law, and subject to reasonable verification, you may request access to, correction, or removal of personal information about you that we process through the Service, via the feedback form. We may require information reasonably necessary to verify your identity, authority, and connection to the relevant family tree before responding. We may decline a request where we cannot reasonably verify the requester, where it would disclose personal information about another person, or where it is excessive, abusive, unlawful or impractical. If family members disagree about whether particular personal information should appear in the Service, we may remove that information.

Removed information may remain for a limited period in backups, logs, or the project's version history before being overwritten or permanently deleted. We may retain limited information where necessary for security, legal compliance, dispute resolution, abuse prevention, or enforcement of this Agreement. Information accessed, downloaded, or exported (as HTML, PDF, or GEDCOM) by you or invited collaborators may remain outside our control once downloaded.

10. Your Responsibility for Content

You represent and warrant that: (a) you own the Content you post or otherwise have the right to grant the license in Section 5, and (b) posting that Content does not violate the privacy, copyright, or other rights of any person. You may not post copyrighted material or proprietary information belonging to others without the owner's prior written consent.

11. Living People, Children, and Sensitive Information

You are responsible for ensuring you have an appropriate basis to add, upload, share, or invite others to view personal information — including photos — about living people. Do not add sensitive, private, or intrusive information about a living person unless you have their permission or another lawful basis to do so. If your information appears in a family tree, you may contact us via the feedback form to request removal.

You must not upload personal information or photos about a child unless you are the child's parent or guardian, have permission from the parent or guardian, or otherwise have an appropriate basis to do so. Take particular care with children's photos, biography text, or other sensitive details. If you are the parent or guardian of a child appearing in a tree without permission, contact us via the feedback form to request removal.

You are solely and fully responsible for the Content you upload, including any details or photos of living people and children, and for obtaining any consent required to do so. This responsibility rests with you regardless of where that Content is stored — including where we host it on your behalf through the Service's built-in storage. Hosting Content does not make us responsible for it: we do not verify that you have the necessary permissions before you upload, and we accept no liability for Content uploaded without proper consent. If a dispute arises over whether Content was uploaded with appropriate consent, it is between you and the affected party, and you agree to indemnify us as set out in Section 22.

12. Prohibited Content

You may not add Content that is illegal, obscene, violent, sexual, hateful, harassing, racist, bigoted, demeaning, threatening, inflammatory, exploitative, defamatory, abusive, misleading, or otherwise objectionable. We reserve the right to remove such Content and bring it to the attention of relevant authorities.

13. Our Intellectual Property

We own and retain all rights in materials provided by the Service, other than Content posted by users. We grant you a limited, revocable license to use these materials solely for your personal use of the Service. Materials included in an export you download (standalone HTML, PDF, GEDCOM) may be stored, published, archived, and backed up in accordance with the terms documented within those materials.

14. No Monitoring Obligation

We assume no responsibility for monitoring Content posted to the Service. If we choose to monitor the Service, we assume no obligation to modify or remove inappropriate Content. You are solely responsible for the Content you post. We make no warranties as to the accuracy or reliability of any Content on the Service.

15. Acceptable Access

You may not interfere with, disrupt, or place undue burden on the Service or any related equipment or network. Access to the Service other than through ordinary use of a web browser — including automated scripts — is forbidden. We reserve the right to block access from any IP address, provider, individual, organization, or country deemed, at our sole discretion, to be abusing the Service.

16. Cookies

The Service uses essential cookies to keep you signed in via Google/Keycloak authentication and to remember preferences such as language and light/dark mode. You may remove these cookies at any time through your browser, though doing so may sign you out or reset preferences.

17. Analytics

We may use third-party analytics tools to understand how visitors use the Service and to improve it. These tools may collect information such as pages visited, time spent, browser/device information, and approximate location derived from IP address. We will not share the Content you post to the Service with analytics providers.

18. Data Storage and International Transfers

Account data (email, display name, Keycloak identity, preferences), tree content, edit history, and sharing metadata are stored in our database. Photos and tree content are stored in our built-in storage or, if you choose, your own Google Drive. Personal information processed through the Service may be stored in EU region. We use third-party service providers for hosting, infrastructure, backup, and security, and use reasonable administrative, technical and organizational measures to protect personal information. No online service can guarantee absolute security.

19. Pricing

RootSpring is free to use at this time. If that ever changes, we will provide notice before any change affects your ability to use projects you've already created, and this Agreement will be updated to reflect applicable billing terms.

20. Disclaimer of Warranties

We are not responsible for incorrect, inaccurate, or outdated material provided through the Service, whether caused by users or by the equipment or programming used to provide it. The Service is provided "AS-IS" and as available; we expressly disclaim any warranty of any kind. The Service is not a data backup service — you are solely responsible for keeping independent backup copies of your Content (for example, via export). We bear no responsibility for deletion, corruption, or loss of Content.

21. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, in no event shall we be liable for any indirect, consequential, exemplary, incidental, special or punitive damages, including lost profits, arising from use of the Service, even if advised of the possibility of such damages. We are not liable for failure or delay due to circumstances beyond our reasonable control. Our liability to you for any cause will at all times be limited to the amount paid, if any, by you for the Service. Nothing here excludes liability that cannot be excluded under applicable law.

22. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold RootSpring, its subsidiaries, affiliates, and their officers, agents, partners and employees harmless from any loss, liability, claim or demand, including reasonable attorneys' fees, arising from your use of the Service in violation of this Agreement, breach of this Agreement or your representations and warranties, or Content you post that causes us to be liable to another party.

23. General

This Agreement is accepted upon your use of the Service, and further affirmed each time you sign in. It constitutes the entire agreement between you and us regarding use of the Service. Our failure to enforce any right or provision shall not be a waiver of it. If any provision is unlawful, void or unenforceable, it is severable and does not affect the remaining provisions.