Family tree privacy - keeping your genealogy data safe
Genealogy is personal. A family tree can contain birth dates, maiden names, places of residence, and other details about living relatives - exactly the kind of information worth protecting. This guide explains the privacy risks and how to stay safe.
Why family data is sensitive
The details in a family tree can be used for identity verification questions (“mother’s maiden name”, “city where you were born”) and can reveal relationships people may prefer to keep private. Uploading this to a cloud service means trusting that company - and any future owner or breach - with your family’s information.
The local-first advantage
RootsPrint is local-first: your trees are stored only in your browser and are never uploaded to a server. There is no account, no database of users, and no way for us to see your data. That eliminates entire categories of risk - there is nothing on a server to leak.
Practical privacy tips
Whatever tool you use, these habits help:
- Limit detail on living people. Consider recording only what you need for the living; full dates and addresses can be added for historical figures where privacy is less of a concern.
- Be careful when sharing exports. A GEDCOM or JSON file contains everything in your tree. Share it only with people you trust.
- Back up locally. Keep your backups on your own devices or private storage rather than public links.
- Mind screenshots. Before posting a chart online, check that it does not expose details about living relatives.
What about advertising and analytics?
To keep the tool free, the website may show ads and use privacy-friendly, aggregate analytics on its informational pages. Importantly, your family tree data is never shared with advertisers or analytics providers - it never leaves your device in the first place. For specifics, see our Privacy Policy.
You are in control
You can export your tree, delete it, or clear all local data at any time. Nothing persists beyond your own browser unless you choose to export it.
Privacy and beautiful results are not a trade-off. Open the editor and build with peace of mind.