This is not legal advice and terms of service change without warning, so it is not a summary of any site's current policy. It is a guide to what to look for and what the answers usually are.

Read the current terms before uploading. They are long, but the sections about your content and about deletion are usually short.

Questions to ask of any site

  • Do they keep the tree after you cancel? Most do, at least for a while. Some keep it indefinitely unless deleted explicitly. Cancelling a subscription and deleting a tree are usually two different actions.
  • Can you delete it, and does deletion mean deletion? Look for whether deleted data is removed from backups, and on what timescale. "Deleted from our systems within 30 days" is a real answer. Silence is not.
  • Who else can see it? Trees are often public by default, or public to other members. Living people are usually hidden from public view, but check what "living" means to them and whether the hiding applies to search engines as well as to other members.
  • Do they use the tree for other things? Some sites use uploaded trees to generate hints for other users, to build their own shared tree, or to train matching systems. That may be fine; it should not be a surprise.
  • Do they share it with partners? Look for language about affiliates, partners and third-party services.

What happens to DNA data is a separate and larger question with separate terms. Do not assume the tree terms cover it.

What the answers usually are

Speaking generally and without naming any site's current wording: an uploaded tree stays on their servers until deleted; you retain ownership but grant them a licence to store, display and use it in their services; living people are hidden from the public; deleted trees are removed from active systems on a stated timescale, with backups following later; and DNA has its own consent process.

The FamilySearch, WikiTree and Geni model is different: what is contributed becomes part of a shared tree that others can edit, and it cannot be withdrawn in the same way. That is the trade for a free collaborative tree.

Why this matters for a viewer

None of the above applies to GED-VIEW, because GED-VIEW does not receive the file. But most people's trees also live somewhere that does, and knowing what that somewhere does with it is part of looking after the people in the file.

Next

Find the section on deletion in the terms of whichever site holds the tree. Read that one section. Then decide.