Last updated: February 2026
These terms apply to all services provided by They Made Me ("we", "us", "our"). By placing an order with us, you ("the customer", "you") agree to be bound by these terms. Please read them carefully before ordering.
They Made Me is a UK-based genealogy research service. We take the information you provide about your family — names, dates, and places — and research your ancestry using a combination of:
Our products include family tree fan charts (delivered as high-quality PDF files), GEDCOM data files (the universal standard for genealogy data), and accompanying research reports. The specific deliverables depend on the package you order.
When you place an order through our website, you are making an offer to purchase our research services. We will confirm acceptance of your order by email. A binding contract is formed when we send this confirmation.
We reserve the right to decline any order if we believe we cannot deliver a satisfactory result — for example, if the starting information provided is insufficient, or if the records for a particular geographic region or time period are known to be very limited.
The quality of our research depends heavily on the accuracy of the information you provide. You agree to:
Tip: The more you can tell us up front — even if you are unsure about some details — the better our research will be. Maiden names, approximate years, and general locations all help enormously.
Genealogy research is, by its nature, an imperfect process. We want to be completely transparent about this:
Important: We do not guarantee that we will be able to trace every line of your family tree to a specific number of generations. We do guarantee that we will conduct thorough, diligent research using the best tools and sources available to us, and that we will clearly indicate our level of confidence in each connection we identify.
Where we identify a connection that we are less than confident about, we will mark it as uncertain or provisional in your results. We will never knowingly present unverified information as fact.
Your family data belongs to you. The names, dates, places, and relationships that make up your family tree are your personal data and you retain full ownership of them. You are free to share, publish, or use this information however you wish.
Our product designs belong to us. The visual design of our fan charts, the layout and formatting of our research reports, and any custom artwork or branding elements are the intellectual property of They Made Me. You may not reproduce these designs for commercial purposes without our written permission.
GEDCOM files are yours to keep and use freely. The GEDCOM data files we provide are exported in an open standard format and you may import them into any genealogy software or share them as you see fit.
The underlying historical records we reference are in the public domain or are made available through third-party databases under their own terms of service.
All prices are quoted in pounds sterling (GBP) and are inclusive of VAT where applicable. Payment is taken at the time of ordering via Stripe, our payment processor. We accept major credit and debit cards.
We reserve the right to change our prices at any time, but any price changes will not affect orders that have already been confirmed.
Because our service involves bespoke research work that begins shortly after your order is confirmed, our refund policy is as follows:
This policy does not affect your statutory rights as a consumer under UK law.
To the fullest extent permitted by law:
Nothing in these terms excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or any other liability that cannot be excluded under applicable law.
We may update these terms from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with a revised "last updated" date. Changes will not apply retroactively to orders that have already been placed and confirmed.
We recommend checking this page periodically if you are a returning customer.
These terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales. Any disputes arising from these terms or our services shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.
If any provision of these terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.
This privacy policy explains how They Made Me collects, uses, stores, and protects your personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
They Made Me is the data controller responsible for your personal data. We are a UK-based genealogy research service operating the website theymademe.co.uk.
If you have any questions about how we handle your data, you can contact us using the details in Section 11 below.
We collect and process the following categories of personal data:
| Data Category | Examples | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Customer contact details | Your name, email address, phone number | Provided by you via our order form |
| Family information | Names, dates of birth/death, places of birth/residence, maiden names, and relationships of your family members | Provided by you, and supplemented through our research |
| Payment information | Card type, last four digits of card number, billing address | Processed by Stripe (we do not store full card numbers) |
| Research results | Family tree data, source citations, confidence ratings, research notes | Generated through our research process |
| Technical data | IP address, browser type, pages visited, session data | Collected automatically when you visit our website |
Special category data: Genealogy research may incidentally reveal information about ethnicity, religion, or health conditions of deceased ancestors. We treat all such data with particular care and do not process it beyond what is necessary to fulfil your order.
We use your personal data for the following purposes:
We will never sell your personal data to third parties. We will never use your family information for marketing purposes without your explicit consent.
Under the UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis for processing your personal data. We rely on the following:
| Legal Basis | What It Covers |
|---|---|
| Contract performance Article 6(1)(b) |
Processing your order, conducting research, delivering results, and handling payments. This is necessary to fulfil our contract with you. |
| Legitimate interest Article 6(1)(f) |
Improving our research methods, maintaining the security of our systems, and preventing fraud. We have balanced these interests against your rights and believe they do not override your data protection rights. |
| Legal obligation Article 6(1)(c) |
Retaining financial records for tax and accounting purposes as required by HMRC. |
| Consent Article 6(1)(a) |
Sending you marketing emails or sharing your results publicly (e.g., in case studies). We will only do this if you have given explicit, freely given consent, which you can withdraw at any time. |
To deliver our service, we share limited data with the following third-party processors. We have ensured that each has appropriate data protection safeguards in place:
| Service | Provider | Data Shared | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| FamilySearch | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (USA) | Ancestor names, dates, and places | Searching historical genealogy records to build your family tree |
| OpenAI (GPT-4o) | OpenAI, Inc. (USA) | Anonymised research data (ancestor names, dates, places, source records) | AI-assisted review and validation of research findings |
| Anthropic (Claude) | Anthropic, PBC (USA) | Anonymised research data (ancestor names, dates, places, source records) | AI-assisted review and cross-referencing of genealogy evidence |
| FreeBMD | Free UK Genealogy (UK) | Ancestor names, dates | Cross-referencing against civil registration indexes for England and Wales |
| Stripe | Stripe, Inc. (USA) | Payment card details, billing address | Processing payments securely |
| Hostinger | Hostinger International Ltd (Lithuania/Cyprus) | All data is stored on their servers | Website and database hosting |
International transfers: Some of our third-party processors are based in the United States. Where data is transferred outside the UK, we rely on the processor's compliance with appropriate safeguards, including Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) approved by the UK Information Commissioner's Office, or equivalent measures. Both OpenAI and Anthropic operate zero-retention API policies for business data, meaning your data is not stored or used for model training.
We do not share your personal data with any other third parties except where required by law (e.g., a court order or regulatory request).
Your data is stored in a SQLite database on a virtual private server (VPS) hosted by Hostinger. We take the following measures to protect it:
While we implement reasonable security measures, no system is completely secure. In the unlikely event of a data breach, we will notify the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) within 72 hours as required by the UK GDPR, and we will notify affected individuals without undue delay if there is a high risk to their rights and freedoms.
We retain your data for the following periods:
| Data Type | Retention Period | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Customer contact details | 3 years after your last order | To handle any follow-up queries and provide ongoing support |
| Family tree research data | 3 years after delivery | To allow you to request re-delivery or additional research |
| Payment records | 6 years after transaction | HMRC tax record-keeping requirements |
| Session and technical data | 30 days | Website security and troubleshooting |
After the retention period expires, your data will be securely deleted. You can request earlier deletion at any time (see Section 8).
Under the UK GDPR, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details in Section 11. We will respond to all legitimate requests within one calendar month. There is no fee for exercising your rights, except where requests are manifestly unfounded or excessive.
If you are not satisfied with how we handle your data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO):
Our website uses only strictly necessary session cookies to keep you logged in during your visit. These cookies:
We do not use any analytics cookies, advertising cookies, or third-party tracking cookies. We do not use Google Analytics or similar services.
Because we only use strictly necessary cookies, we do not require your consent under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). You can, of course, configure your browser to reject cookies, but this may prevent parts of the website from functioning correctly.
Our service is not directed at children under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. Genealogy research may involve the names and dates of minors as part of a family tree — this data is processed as part of the wider family research and is treated with the same protections as all other data.
If you are under 16 and have provided us with personal data, or if you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal data, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.
For any questions about these terms, our privacy practices, or to exercise your data rights, you can reach us at:
Email: hello@theymademe.co.uk
Website: theymademe.co.uk
We aim to respond to all enquiries within 2 working days.
These terms and privacy policy were last updated in February 2026.
They Made Me is a trading name registered in England and Wales.