Ancestor Tree

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Home Getting Started

Family Vault℠

Ancestor Tree has a solution to the privacy and security concerns of online Family History.   Family Vault℠ uses advanced encryption and is only available in the United States*.

Family Vault℠ is available with the Plum, Persimmon, and Walnut plans.

Family Vault℠ adds encryption and decryption buttons for individual notes.   You will be prompted for the key when you click the "decrypt" button for an encrypted note.  Use the "Encrypt and Save" button to encrypt a note when you edit or create a note.

With Family Vault℠ you can easily encrypt sensitive information about your family members in a note attached to their nearest relative in your online family tree.  You can see in action here.  (Click on the Notes tab, the key for each note is nation12).

How  secure is Family Vault℠?

Family Vault℠ is as secure as we can make it.  We use AES-256 encryption.  Unencrypted text and keys never leave your computer.  All encryption and decryption is performed by your browser.  This is the maximum key-based security publicly available for online storage and sharing.  That said, you must adhere to the following guidelines to maintain the very high security levels possible with this technology.

  • Use good keys.  Single words are easily guessed.  Here are some good ideas.
  • Everyone who uses Family Vault℠  must maintain a secure computer, follow our guidelines.
  • Never enter a key into a public computer, a work computer, or any untrusted device.
  • You should share your keys or store them in a safe place known by someone you trust if you wish to pass them on and for safekeeping.  Share your keys in person, by letter, or by phone.  Don't use email or other internet communication.
Warning: Ancestor Tree does not know your key and cannot help you if you forget it.  The only solution to a forgotten key is to delete the encrypted note and replace it with information from your offline backup.


As always, please contact us with any questions.  We're here to help.

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Family Vault℠ is a service mark of Ring Development

* Currently Family Vault℠ is only available in the US because of potential export restrictions.  We hope to be able to relax this restriction in the future.  Outside of the US encryption is not available and for encrypted notes you will see encrypted ciphertext but there will not be a button to decrypt it.