Legal
Terms of Use
Last updated: 26 June 2026
These Terms of Use (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of Lineamy.com (the “Service”), operated by Lineamy.com (“we”, “us”, “our”). By creating an account or otherwise using the Service, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service.
1. Eligibility & accounts
You must be at least 18 years old to create an account. You agree to provide accurate information when registering and to keep it up to date. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and for all activity that occurs under your account. We recommend enabling two-factor authentication. Notify us promptly at privacy@lineamy.com if you suspect unauthorised use of your account.
2. The Service
The Service lets you create, organise, store and optionally publish family-tree information, including people, relationships, events, source citations, and uploaded documents and images. We may add, change or remove features over time.
3. Your content
You retain ownership of the content you add to the Service (“Your Content”). You grant us a limited, non-exclusive licence to host, store, copy, process and display Your Content solely to operate and provide the Service to you and to those you choose to share it with, and to make backups. This licence ends when you delete the relevant content or your account, except for content already shared with collaborators and for copies retained in routine backups for a limited period.
4. Your responsibilities for content about other people
Family trees frequently contain information about other people, including living relatives. You represent that you have a lawful basis to record, store and — where you choose to publish a tree — share that information, and that doing so does not violate any person’s privacy or other rights. You are solely responsible for the visibility settings you apply and for the consequences of publishing personal information. Where you can, mark living individuals accordingly and keep sensitive trees private.
5. Acceptable use
You agree not to:
- Use the Service for any unlawful purpose or in breach of any applicable law, including data-protection law;
- Upload or publish content that infringes the intellectual-property, privacy or other rights of any person;
- Upload content you do not have the right to use, or that is defamatory, harassing, obscene or otherwise objectionable;
- Upload malware or attempt to gain unauthorised access to the Service, other accounts, or our systems;
- Interfere with or disrupt the integrity or performance of the Service, including by automated scraping or excessive automated requests;
- Impersonate another person or misrepresent your affiliation with anyone.
We may remove content or suspend access that we reasonably believe violates these Terms or the law.
6. Uploaded documents
When you upload documents or images, you confirm you have the right to do so. Reasonable limits may apply to file types and sizes. We may convert images to efficient formats for display and storage. We may remove material that is unlawful or infringing, or that we are required to remove.
7. Privacy
Our handling of personal information is described in our Privacy Policy, which forms part of these Terms.
8. Availability, backups & “as is”
We work to keep the Service available and reliable, but we do not guarantee that it will be uninterrupted, error-free or secure, or that data will never be lost. The Service is provided “as is” and “as available”, without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, to the maximum extent permitted by law. You are responsible for keeping your own copies of important information. You can export your trees at any time in the standard GEDCOM format.
9. Intellectual property
The Service itself — including its software, design, branding, name and logo — is owned by us or our licensors and is protected by intellectual-property laws. These Terms do not grant you any right in our intellectual property except the limited right to use the Service in accordance with these Terms.
10. Suspension & termination
You may stop using the Service and delete your account at any time. We may suspend or terminate your access if you breach these Terms, if required by law, or if necessary to protect the Service or other users. On termination, your right to use the Service ends; sections that by their nature should survive (including ownership, disclaimers, limitation of liability and governing law) will continue to apply.
11. Disclaimers
Genealogical records are inherently uncertain. We do not verify and are not responsible for the accuracy, completeness or reliability of any content you or other users create. Any reliance you place on such content is at your own risk.
12. Limitation of liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law, we will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for any loss of data, profits, or goodwill, arising out of or relating to your use of (or inability to use) the Service. Nothing in these Terms limits any liability that cannot lawfully be limited, including under the Consumer Protection Act where it applies.
13. Indemnity
You agree to indemnify and hold us harmless from any claims, damages, liabilities and reasonable expenses arising out of Your Content, your use of the Service, or your breach of these Terms or of any law or third-party right.
14. Changes to these Terms
We may update these Terms from time to time. When we make material changes, we will update the “Last updated” date above and, where appropriate, notify you. Your continued use of the Service after the changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.
15. Governing law & disputes
These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles. You agree to submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the Republic of South Africa in respect of any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service.
16. General
If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect. Our failure to enforce any right or provision is not a waiver of that right or provision. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and us regarding the Service.
17. Contact
Questions about these Terms can be sent to privacy@lineamy.com.