The short version
- There are no accounts. You don’t give us your name or email address to build a chart.
- The chart you’re making is saved only in your browser.
- A GEDCOM file you import is read in your browser and never uploaded.
- To draw the preview, our server receives your chart’s names and years, draws it, and doesn’t store or log them.
- After you pay, we keep your chart encrypted for 30 days so you can download it again or fix it, then delete it automatically.
- Stripe handles payment. We never see your card number.
- Analytics count page views and product events. They never include names, years, file names or file contents.
- We never sell or share family data.
Who we are
Family Chart Maker (familychartmaker.com) is run by Northpine Labs LLC, a company in the United States (“we”, “us”). Questions about this policy or your data go to support@familychartmaker.com.
What we collect, where it lives, and why
The chart you’re making
Until you pay, your chart (names, years, marriages and settings) is stored only in your browser’s local storage, on your device. We can’t see it there. It stays until you clear your browser’s data for this site.
Previews
To draw the preview, your browser sends our server the names and years of the people in the chart, plus the chart settings. The server draws the chart, sends it back, and doesn’t store or log the names or years.
GEDCOM files
When you import a GEDCOM file, it’s read in your browser and never uploaded. Its file name stays in your browser too. Only the names and years of the people in your chart reach our server, for the preview, as described above.
Paid charts
When you pay, we store the chart (names, years and settings) on our server, encrypted, for 30 days, so you can download it again and fix typos. After 30 days it’s deleted automatically. If you get a refund, the download locks at once and the stored chart is deleted within a few hours (our server checks every stored chart with Stripe each hour).
Payments
Payments go through Stripe Checkout. Stripe collects your card details and your email address for the receipt; we never see your card number. Stripe gives us the purchase record, including the amount, the date, whether it was refunded and the email address for the receipt. With each purchase we also record in Stripe the chart type, look, size and number of people (never names) and a random analytics ID, so we can match the payment to your chart and count purchases. Stripe’s own privacy policy is at stripe.com/privacy.
Analytics
We use PostHog to understand how the site is used. It records page views and product events, such as “chart drawn” or “checkout started”, with counts and settings only: the number of people, the chart type, the look and the size. It never receives names, years, file names or file contents. Text on the page is hidden from click events, and we don’t record sessions. Traffic from automated browsers is excluded.
Like most analytics tools, PostHog also receives standard technical details such as your browser and device type, the page that referred you, and an approximate location based on your IP address. It identifies your browser with a random ID, not your name. PostHog’s privacy policy is at posthog.com/privacy.
Network and security
The site is delivered through Cloudflare, which handles connections and protects the site from abuse; it processes connection details such as your IP address to do that, and may count page views for us with Cloudflare Web Analytics (no cookies, no family data). Our server also uses your network address briefly, in memory, to limit floods of requests. It isn’t stored.
Emails you send us
If you email us, we receive your email address and your message and use them to answer you or to process a refund. We don’t send newsletters or marketing emails.
Cookies and browser storage
We don’t use advertising cookies. Here is everything the site stores in your browser:
| What | Why | How long |
|---|---|---|
| Local storage: your draft chart, plus one backup copy | Keeps the chart you’re making in this browser. After you pay, it also keeps your download link (which contains your purchase’s Stripe session id). | Until you clear it |
| Cookie “fcm_access” (httpOnly) | Holds the signed Stripe Checkout Session id, so this browser can download the chart you paid for. It is sent only to our own download pages, never to analytics. | 30 days |
| PostHog cookie and local storage (names start with “ph_”) | A random analytics ID and the current visit, for counting page views and events | Up to a year |
Your download link
After you pay, the app shows a download link that contains your purchase’s Stripe session id. Anyone with that link can download your chart until it expires, 30 days after payment, so keep it private. We remove that id from everything we send to analytics.
How long we keep things
- Drafts: in your browser until you clear them. We never have a copy.
- Previews: not stored.
- Paid charts: 30 days after payment, then deleted automatically. Deleted sooner if you get a refund (within a few hours) or delete them yourself.
- Purchase records: kept by Stripe and by us as payment and tax records require.
- Analytics events: kept in PostHog for usage statistics. They contain no family data.
- Support emails: as long as we need them to help you.
We never sell or share family data
We don’t sell personal information, we don’t show ads, and we don’t share your family data with anyone. Names and years are never sent to Stripe or PostHog. The service providers above (Stripe, PostHog, Cloudflare and our hosting provider) handle data only to run the service for us. We would disclose information only if the law required it.
Children’s privacy
Family Chart Maker isn’t directed to children under 13, and we don’t knowingly collect personal information from them. A student can build a chart without giving us any personal information, and a parent or guardian should make any purchase. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, email support@familychartmaker.com and we’ll delete it.
Your choices
- Delete your draft: clear your browser’s site data (cookies and local storage) for familychartmaker.com.
- Delete a paid chart early: in the download panel, choose “Delete our stored copy now” (on any device, through your download link), or email support@familychartmaker.com from the address you used at checkout and we’ll delete it.
- Block analytics: use your browser’s privacy settings or a content blocker. The builder works without analytics.
- Ask about your data: depending on where you live, you may have the right to know what we hold about you and to have it deleted. Email us and we’ll help.
Security
The site uses HTTPS. Paid charts are encrypted on our server, and a download needs the signed cookie or your private download link. No system is perfectly secure, but we keep what we store to the minimum the service needs.
Changes to this policy
If we change this policy, we’ll update the effective date at the top. If a change affects how we handle family data, we’ll say so on this page. See also our terms of service and refund policy.
Contact
Northpine Labs LLC, maker of Family Chart Maker. Email: support@familychartmaker.com.