Terms of Service

Contact: privacy@recordsandhistory.com

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of Lineage Tree (the “Service”). By creating an account or using the Service, you agree to these Terms and our Privacy Policy.

1. The Service

Lineage Tree provides a public graph of historical and contributed lineage information, collections, proposals, debates, moderation tools, and optional private family trees. Editorial collections and contested or religious links are exploration aids — not official government, religious, or academic determinations.

2. Eligibility & accounts

You must be old enough to form a binding contract in your jurisdiction (and at least 16, or the higher age required where you live) to register. You are responsible for your credentials and for activity under your account. Provide accurate information and keep your email reachable for verification and security notices.

3. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• Harass, threaten, or abuse others
• Post illegal content, or content that infringes others’ rights (including privacy and intellectual property)
• Deliberately invent or upload personal data about living private individuals in a way that violates law or these Terms
• Attempt to bypass access controls, scrape the Service abusively, or disrupt infrastructure
• Impersonate others or misrepresent your affiliation with Lineage Tree

We may hide content, revoke private access, block accounts, or take other action we reasonably consider necessary to protect users and the Service.

4. Contributions & licenses

You retain rights in content you create, but you grant Lineage Tree a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, display, reproduce, and distribute that content as needed to operate and improve the Service (including public graph display for public contributions). You represent that you have the rights needed to submit the content.

Historical data seeded or curated by us, and the Service’s design and software, remain ours or our licensors’. Do not copy the Service wholesale for competing products without permission.

5. Accuracy & debates

Lineage information may be incomplete, contested, legendary, or wrong. Edge statuses (verified, contested, etc.) and authenticity scores are tooling — not guarantees. You use historical and user-contributed information at your own risk. Proposals and debates are moderated; outcomes may change as evidence is reviewed.

6. Private trees

Private lineage features are for your family’s use subject to these Terms and the Privacy Policy. Grants of access are your responsibility. Moderators generally do not “approve” private trees as factual truth; visibility and dispute tools may still apply where designed. Soft-delete and PII purge timelines may apply after account deletion.

7. Disclaimers

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT, TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that lineage data is accurate or complete.

8. Limitation of liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, LINEAGE TREE AND ITS OPERATORS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR LOST PROFITS, DATA, OR GOODWILL, ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE. OUR AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR CLAIMS RELATING TO THE SERVICE WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF ONE HUNDRED US DOLLARS (US $100) OR THE AMOUNTS YOU PAID US (IF ANY) IN THE TWELVE MONTHS BEFORE THE CLAIM.

9. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Lineage Tree and its operators from claims arising out of your content, your use of the Service, or your violation of these Terms or applicable law, to the extent permitted by law.

10. Termination

You may stop using the Service and request account deletion where available. We may suspend or terminate access if you breach these Terms or if we discontinue the Service. Provisions that by nature should survive (including licenses already exercised, disclaimers, and limitations) will survive termination.

11. Changes

We may update these Terms by publishing a revised version through the Service and updating the revision date shown on the Terms page. Continued use after changes become effective constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms where permitted by law. If we require re-acceptance for material updates, we will prompt you in the product.

12. Contact

Questions about these Terms: privacy@recordsandhistory.com.

Related: Privacy Policy.