Welcome! The Family Portal is a private website for our family to share memories, photos and family history, without big companies collecting or selling any of it. Please read these terms before creating your account. They're short, and written in plain words.
1. Who can join
The Family Portal is for members of our family and their spouses and partners. Accounts are for adults (18 and older); younger family members are added to the tree by their parents. Every new account is checked and approved by hand before it can see anything.
2. What the site keeps
- Your account: your name, username, email address and password. Passwords are stored scrambled, so nobody can read them, not even the admins.
- What you choose to add: profile details (like a photo, birthday, phone or where you live), memories, events, photos, documents, messages and changes to the family tree.
- The family tree: names, dates and places for family members, gathered from family knowledge and public records such as census, church and cemetery records. You may already be in the tree before you join.
- A little about your visits: your settings and the last time you were on the site (for “what's new since your last visit” and your online status).
3. Who can see what
- Only approved family members can see the tree, photos, documents, memories and events.
- Memories you mark “Only me” are seen by you alone, and messages only by the sender and the person they were sent to.
- You can hide your phone number, birthday and address, and your online status, in Settings. Admins can still see hidden details, only to help with problems.
- Children under 18 are only shown to their parents, grandparents and the site's admins and moderators. Members may only add their own children.
4. What we will never do
There are no ads and no tracking. Your information is never sold, rented or shared with any company, and family information is never shown to Google or other search engines.
5. Where it's kept
The database runs on Fly.io in the United States and is backed up daily. The website, photos and documents are stored with Cloudflare. A few free services help pages work (Google Fonts for the lettering, public code libraries, and OpenStreetMap for the map); they see that a device visited, not your family information. I run the site, and like anyone who runs a website, I can technically reach what's stored in it. I only use that access to keep the site working and fix problems.
6. What you share stays yours
Your photos, stories and documents remain yours. By posting them, you let approved family members see them on the site, and nothing more. You can edit or remove what you've posted at any time.
7. Family rules
- Be kind. This is a family gathering place.
- Share what's yours to share. Post only photos and documents you took, own, or have permission to share.
- Respect living relatives. Ask before posting someone's private matters, like health, relationships or addresses.
- Protect the children. Only parents add their own children. Never post a child's details on someone else's behalf.
- Keep it in the family. Don't copy other people's photos or stories off the site without asking them first.
- Fix mistakes kindly. Correct the tree with sources when you can, or flag it so someone can check.
Admins may remove posts or pause accounts that break these rules, after talking with the person whenever possible.
8. Your choices and rights
You can ask at any time to see, correct or remove information about you or your children, or to delete your account. Use Help → Privacy concern on the site, or contact me or another admin directly.
9. Changes
The Family Portal is built and looked after by one person and keeps growing. If these terms change in an important way, you'll be told on the site and by email.
The full details are in our privacy promise. Version 1.0 · October 2026.
I sincerely promise to uphold these terms to the best of my ability. Don't hesitate to reach out to me if you ever have questions or concerns.
Jordan J Loes
