The short version: your family tree stays on your own devices, your computer and your phone. We run no servers that collect it and there is no account system. The few things that do leave a device (a license check, map lookups, an update check, plus any optional feature you switch on, such as syncing through your own cloud folder) are spelled out below.
Your family tree, photos, notes, and everything else you create or import in FamilyLoupe are saved in files on your own devices: on your computer with the Windows app, and on your phone with the Android app. We do not receive them, store them, or have any way to see them. Backing up those files is up to you. Uninstalling the app removes its data from that device.
We do not run user accounts for FamilyLoupe, and the apps do not track how you use them. There are no ads, no analytics, and no crash-reporting services in either app.
The Windows app works offline. On its own it makes only these requests, and none of them include your family tree:
The Android app makes no routine requests of its own. It does not check a license (Google Play handles updates and purchases), and it sends nothing to us. It connects to the internet only when you use one of these:
These are off unless you enable them. If you never turn them on, they send nothing.
AI assistant (Windows app only). If you connect the built-in assistant to an AI provider using your own account, your questions and the tree records the app judges relevant are sent to that provider. If you use a local model instead, nothing leaves your device. We do not run an AI service and your data does not pass through us.
FamilySearch. If you connect a FamilySearch account, the app exchanges data with FamilySearch only when you ask it to: checking hints, comparing trees, or sharing information you choose to contribute. FamilySearch data is kept separate on your device, is never sent to an AI feature, and is left out of exports and backups. You can disconnect and delete it at any time in Settings. FamilySearch’s own terms and privacy policy apply to your use of FamilySearch.
Whatever a third-party AI provider or FamilySearch does with data you send them is covered by their policies, not this one.
Pairing and syncing over Wi-Fi. You can pair the Android app with FamilyLoupe on your own computer, and then choose which trees to sync. Syncing is off for a tree until you turn it on. The phone finds your computer by searching your local network, and the two devices talk directly to each other. Everything they send each other is encrypted (AES-256-GCM) with keys that only your phone and your computer hold, and each sync uses a fresh key. Nothing goes through us.
Syncing without Wi-Fi. The phone can instead exchange encrypted files with your computer through a cloud folder. With Dropbox, you sign in to your own Dropbox account in your browser; the app can see only its own app folder, never the rest of your account, and keeps its sign-in token in your phone’s secure storage. The files are encrypted before they leave the device. Dropbox can see file names, sizes, and times, but not what is inside. We never receive these files, and Dropbox’s own terms and privacy policy apply to your account there.
Backups and exports. The Android app can save a backup of your trees, and a GEDCOM export, to any place you choose with your phone’s file chooser. Backups are not encrypted unless you turn on “Protect with a passphrase”, which is optional and off by default. A protected backup uses Argon2id and AES-256-GCM. If you lose the passphrase, nobody, including us, can open that backup. If you choose to let the phone remember it, it is kept in the phone’s secure storage. A backup you save in Google Drive, Dropbox, or email is only as private as that account, unless it is protected with a passphrase.
Android’s own backup. If device backup is turned on in your Android settings, Android may copy the app’s files to your Google account under Google’s terms and settings. We do not control or receive that copy. FamilySearch data is excluded from it. You can turn this off with the “Back up with Android” switch in the app’s Settings. Copies already made stay in your Google account until you delete them in Android’s settings.
Camera and photos. The Android app asks for camera access only to scan the pairing code shown on your computer, and the camera image is read on the phone and not stored or sent. Photos you add are chosen with Android’s own picker, resized, and kept in the app and in your backups. They are not sent to us.
Permissions. The Android app requests internet access (for the features above) and camera access (to scan a pairing code, which is optional; you can type the code instead).
Licenses are sold by Lemon Squeezy (from our website), by Microsoft (from the Microsoft Store), or, for Mobile Pro, by Google (from Google Play). Those companies collect and handle your name, email, and payment details under their own privacy policies. We are not the seller of record and we do not receive or store your payment information. From the seller we get your email address (for Lemon Squeezy and Microsoft purchases) and a record of the purchase, which we use to support your license. For Mobile Pro bought through Google Play, we receive only confirmation that a purchase occurred.
Unlocking Pro on a phone by pairing it with a computer licensed for Desktop + Mobile happens between your own two devices. Your phone remembers that it is unlocked and does not contact us.
familyloupe.com uses Google Analytics to measure traffic. Google Analytics sets cookies and receives standard information such as your IP address, browser, and the pages you view. You can decline non-essential cookies where the site offers that choice, or block cookies in your browser. We do not sell personal information.
If you email us, we keep your message and address so we can reply and keep a support history.
To ask what information we hold about you, or to have it deleted, email support@familyloupe.com. For payment or account details held by Lemon Squeezy, Microsoft, or Google, contact them directly. Because your family tree never reaches us, deleting it means deleting it on your own devices and in any cloud folder or backup you chose to use.
FamilyLoupe and this website are not directed to children, and we do not knowingly collect information from them.
We may update this policy. The current version is always at familyloupe.com/privacy, with the date shown above.
Seventieth and Smith LLC
100 Village Dr, 1414
Mebane, NC 27302, USA
support@familyloupe.com