Cookie and Local Storage Policy
AncestorOS sets no cookies of its own. Not one, and none for analytics or advertising — there is no tracking in this product. What we do use is your browser's local storage and offline database, which is a bigger deal for your privacy than cookies would be, and Section 3 lists every item.
1. We Set No Cookies
AncestorOS does not set any cookie on your browser. There is no session cookie, no preference cookie, and no analytics or advertising cookie.
Signing in does not use a cookie either. Your session is held as a token in your browser's own storage and sent to us with each request.
Because we set no cookies and run no tracking, we do not show a cookie consent banner. There would be nothing for it to ask you about. If we ever introduce anything that requires consent, we will add a proper consent mechanism first, and it will be opt-in.
2. What We Use Instead
Three browser storage mechanisms, all first-party, all on your own device:
Local storage holds small preferences and a few conveniences. Listed in full in Section 3.
An offline database (IndexedDB) holds a working copy of your records so the application keeps functioning if your connection drops, and so it loads quickly. This is the largest store and it is covered separately in Section 4.
A service worker cache holds application files and recent pages so the app loads fast and works offline.
We do not use session storage at all.
3. Complete Reference
Every local storage item AncestorOS writes. Some contain personal information, and those are marked.
| Name | What it holds | Personal? |
|---|---|---|
aos-nav-sections | Which sidebar sections you have collapsed | No |
aos_show_completed_… | Whether completed tasks are shown, per project | No |
aos-privacy-hide-living | Your preference to exclude living people from a share link | No |
aos-privacy-mask-exports | Your preference to mask living people in a GEDCOM export | No |
ancestoros_geocache_v1 | Place names from your tree and the map coordinates they resolved to, cached so the map does not re-query them | Yes — place names from your research |
aos-home-person | The name and identifier of the person you set as the starting point for relationship calculations, who may be a living relative | Yes |
aos-vrl-requester | Your own name, postal address, telephone number and email address, saved so the vital-records letter generator does not ask again each time | Yes — your own contact details |
Your sign-in token is also held in browser storage by Google Firebase Authentication so you stay signed in between visits. Signing out removes it.
None of these are sent anywhere. They stay on your device.
4. The Offline Copy of Your Data
This is the part worth reading carefully.
To keep the application usable when your connection is poor, AncestorOS keeps a working copy of the records you access in your browser's offline database. In practice that can amount to your entire family tree — names, dates, places, notes, and biographies, including those of living relatives — and, on the Professional plan, your client records, invoices, and time entries.
Two consequences you should know about:
- It is not encrypted by us. It sits in your browser profile with the protections your operating system and browser provide, and nothing more.
- It persists after you sign out. Signing out clears your session, not the cached records. They remain until the browser's site data is cleared.
On a shared, public, or work computer, clear the site's data when you finish, or use a private browsing window, in which nothing is retained. Section 6 explains how.
5. Third-Party Requests
Some pages load resources from other companies. Those companies see your IP address and browser details as a normal part of serving the request, and may set their own cookies on their own domains. We do not control that and receive nothing from it.
| Who | Where | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Google Fonts and gstatic | Every page | Typefaces and the Firebase libraries the app is built on |
| OpenStreetMap | Ancestor Map, Cemetery | Map tiles, and converting place names into map positions |
| unpkg | Ancestor Map, Cemetery | The mapping library |
| Quill CDN | Adding a memory | The rich-text editor |
| Stripe | Only during checkout, on Stripe's own pages | Taking payment. Stripe sets its own cookies there, not here |
None of these are advertising or analytics services, and none receive your family history.
6. Clearing This Data
Clearing site data signs you out and removes the offline copy and your saved preferences. It does not affect anything stored in your account, which remains on our servers.
Chrome and Edge: Settings → Privacy and security → Third-party cookies → See all site data and permissions → search for ancestoros.com → Delete.
Safari: Settings → Privacy → Manage Website Data → search for ancestoros.com → Remove.
Firefox: Settings → Privacy & Security → Cookies and Site Data → Manage Data → search for ancestoros.com → Remove Selected.
A private or incognito window keeps nothing after you close it, though the app may run more slowly.
Blocking storage for this site entirely will prevent AncestorOS from working, because signing in depends on it.
7. Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control
We do not track you, so there is nothing for these signals to switch off. We run no analytics, no advertising, and no cross-site tracking, and we do not sell or share personal information for behavioural advertising.
We nevertheless honour the Global Privacy Control signal: if your browser sends one, we treat it as an instruction not to sell or share your personal information, which matches what we already do.
8. Contact
Commoner Apps LLC
United States
Questions about this policy: privacy@ancestoros.com
See also the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Service.