Terms of Service

These terms cover your use of Viewfore. By using the service you agree to them. Please read them alongside our Privacy Policy.

Viewfore is operated by 5 Lights LLC, a California limited liability company (“we” or “us”). These terms are an agreement between you and us.

What Viewfore does

Viewfore lets you upload a GEDCOM family tree file and view it as a map, a pedigree chart, a fan chart, a lifespan chart, and a page of statistics. You can save a tree privately or publish it as a public link or embed. The service is provided for personal, family history use.

Your account

You need an account only to save or share a tree. You are responsible for keeping your password safe and for activity under your account. Tell us promptly if you think your account has been used without your permission. You must be at least 13 years old to create an account.

Your data and your rights to it

Your family tree is yours. We do not claim ownership of it. When you save a tree, you give us permission to store it so you can open it again. When you publish a public share, you also give us permission to display that tree to viewers, for as long as the share is live. Both permissions end when you delete the tree. You are responsible for having the right to upload and, where relevant, share the information in your tree, including information about living people.

Acceptable use

You agree not to use Viewfore to:

• Upload or share data you do not have the right to use.
• Publish private information about living people without a lawful basis.
• Break the law, harass anyone, or infringe someone else's rights.
• Attempt to disrupt, overload, or gain unauthorized access to the service.

We may pause a public share and, in serious cases, suspend an account that breaks these rules. If you believe a shared tree is harmful or infringes your rights, use the Report link shown on a shared tree's page, or write to us through the contact page. We review reports and act on the ones that break these terms or the law.

Free viewing and paid sharing

Viewing your own tree is free. This includes uploading a file, using all the views, and saving a tree privately. Publishing a public share or embed is a paid feature. Current pricing is a one-time charge of $10 for a share that stays live for 30 days, or a subscription of $39 per year that keeps every tree you share live. Prices are in US dollars, are shown before you pay, and may change over time; a change never affects a period you have already paid for. People who view a shared tree never pay and never need an account.

Billing, renewal, and cancellation

Payments are handled by Stripe, which acts as the merchant of record and handles applicable tax. A 30-day share does not renew by itself. We email you three days before it ends, and you can buy another 30 days from your account. The yearly subscription renews automatically at the end of each year, charging the card on file at the then-current price, until you cancel. You can cancel online at any time from the Billing tab of your account, and your shares stay live until the end of the period you have paid for. If a renewal payment fails, we email you and keep your shares live for seven days while you update your card. After that, and whenever a 30-day share ends unrenewed, the public link shows a “share ended” page instead of the tree. A paused share is never deleted. You can still open it yourself, and paying again brings it back.

Refunds

If something goes wrong, or the service did not do what this page says, contact us within 14 days of the charge and we will refund it. Otherwise, one-time share charges and the current period of a subscription are non-refundable once the share has been published, except where the law gives you a right to a refund.

Accuracy and estimates

Viewfore shows some information as clearly labeled estimates. For example, when a person has no recorded birthplace we may show an estimated country based on their family, and whether someone is treated as living is worked out from dates in the file. Estimates are always marked as estimates, are provided as a convenience, and may be wrong. Do not rely on them as verified genealogical records, and check the living-people setting yourself before you share.

Service provided as is

We work to keep Viewfore reliable, but the service is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis without warranties of any kind. We do not guarantee that the service will be uninterrupted, error free, or that any result or estimate is accurate. Keep your own copy of your GEDCOM file; Viewfore is not a backup service.

Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent allowed by law, we are not liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential damages, or for any loss of data, arising from your use of the service. Where liability cannot be excluded, it is limited to the amount you paid us in the twelve months before the claim. Some places do not allow these limits, in which case they apply only as far as the law allows.

Ending your use

You can stop using Viewfore and delete your account at any time from the Profile tab of your account page. We may suspend or end access for accounts that break these terms or that we are required to act on by law. If we end your access for a reason other than a breach, we will refund any unused part of a paid period.

Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, United States, without regard to its conflict of law rules. If we have a disagreement, write to us first and we will try to sort it out informally within 30 days. Any dispute that cannot be resolved that way will be brought in the state or federal courts located in Sacramento County, California, and you agree to their jurisdiction. If you are a consumer in a country whose law gives you the right to bring a claim in your own courts, nothing here takes that right away.

Changes to these terms

We may update these terms as the product grows. When we make a meaningful change we will update the date at the top of this page, and, for changes to pricing or renewal, email account holders before they take effect. Continuing to use Viewfore after a change means you accept the updated terms.

Contact

Questions about these terms? See our contact page.