FAQ
Frequently asked questions
The questions people actually ask us, answered plainly. For anything longer, the help centre goes into more depth.
Privacy and control
- Who can see my family tree?
- Whoever you allow. Visibility is set per section of a profile, with four levels: Public, Connections, Family and Private. Profiles of living people are restricted by default, and their details are withheld from anonymous visitors regardless of which tree they appear in. Read more
- Someone added me to their tree without asking. What can I do?
- You can claim the profile, which makes you its owner — you can then correct it, restrict it section by section, or take it out of public view. If you would rather not create an account, email privacy@worldancestry.net and we will act on it directly. Read more
- Do you sell my data?
- No. We do not sell personal data and we do not share it with advertisers or data brokers. We use a small number of processors — hosting, media storage, email delivery, error monitoring — who act only on our instructions. Read more
- Can I remove myself completely?
- Yes. You can close your account from your settings. It is deactivated straight away and erased 30 days later — during those 30 days you can reactivate it by logging in and your profile will be exactly as you left it. Family records you contributed generally remain because other relatives depend on them, but your authorship is anonymised and your own profile is anonymised too. Read more
- What happens to a deceased relative's profile?
- It stays, which is the point of a genealogical record. We still apply judgement: recently deceased people are treated more carefully than distant ancestors, and we will restrict or remove a record at the reasonable request of a close relative — particularly where a cause of death, medical detail or photograph is involved. Read more
Verification
- What does Pending mean on a relationship?
- That one person has proposed it and the other has not confirmed it yet. It is visible so you can keep working, but it is never counted as verified and is always visibly marked. Read more
- What if a relative records something I know is wrong?
- Raise a dispute rather than deleting their work. The record is flagged and stops being shown as confirmed, both of you can attach evidence, and a reviewer records an outcome with reasons that stays visible on the record. Read more
- We have no documents. Can we still use World Ancestry?
- Yes — this is the case we designed for. Recorded oral accounts from family elders, community and religious records, naming ceremonies and clan registers are all admissible evidence here, credited to whoever gave the account. Read more
- Is a confirmed relationship legal proof?
- No. A confirmed relationship records that the people it names agree with it. It is not proof of descent for inheritance, citizenship or any other legal purpose. Read more
Using the platform
- How do I add a cousin or a grandparent?
- You do not add them directly. You only ever record direct relationships — parent, child, sibling, spouse or partner — and everything else is derived from those. Add the link that connects them and the cousin relationship follows automatically. Read more
- The same ancestor appears twice. How do I fix it?
- Propose a merge from either profile. Both records are shown field by field, nothing is discarded, and the merge completes only when the owners of both profiles agree. Read more
- Does it cost anything?
- You can create an account, build your tree, add relatives, upload media and use verification for free. Paid plans with more storage are on the way. Nothing is charged today, and we will say so clearly before anything is.
- My family's naming tradition does not fit the form.
- Tell us. Patronymics, compound surnames, praise names, clan names and names that change at marriage or initiation are all supported, and if yours is not, that is a gap in our model rather than in your family. Email support@worldancestry.net. Read more
Account
- My verification code never arrived.
- Check your spam folder first, then use the resend option on the verification screen. Codes expire after ten minutes and repeated requests are rate-limited, so wait a moment before trying again. Read more
- Can I get a copy of my data?
- Yes. Download it yourself from Settings → Your Data — it arrives immediately as a structured JSON file covering your account, your own profile, your relationships and the consents you have given. If something is missing, email privacy@worldancestry.net and we will respond within 30 days. Read more
- Something on the site is unusable with my screen reader.
- Please tell us — email accessibility@worldancestry.net with the page, what you were trying to do, and your browser and assistive technology. We acknowledge reports within 5 working days and will help you complete the task another way in the meantime. Read more
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