Terms of Service
Lao Family Tree
Effective date: June 27, 2026 Last updated: June 27, 2026
1. Agreement to these Terms
These Terms of Service ("Terms") are a binding agreement between you and Lao Family Tree LLC ("Lao Family Tree," "we," "us," or "our"), which operates the website at laofamilytree.com and any related services (together, the "Service").
By creating an account, accessing, or using the Service, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.
2. What Lao Family Tree is
Lao Family Tree is a private platform that helps families — particularly families of the Lao diaspora — build and preserve their family history. You can create a family tree, add relatives (living and deceased), upload photos and stories, and invite family members to view or contribute.
The Service is provided for personal, non-commercial family use. We may add, change, or remove features at any time.
3. Who may use the Service
To create an account, you must be at least 18 years old and able to form a binding contract. By registering, you confirm that you meet these requirements.
People under 18 may appear as members of a family tree (for example, children or grandchildren added by an adult relative), but they may not create or hold their own account. If you add information about a minor, you are responsible for having the right to do so under Section 6.
4. Your account
You are responsible for your account, for keeping your login credentials secure, and for all activity that happens under your account. Tell us promptly at support@laofamilytree.com if you believe your account has been accessed without your permission. We are not responsible for losses caused by unauthorized use of your account that results from your failure to keep your credentials secure.
5. Your content and who owns it
"Your Content" means anything you add to the Service — names, dates, relationships, photos, stories, documents, and other information.
You keep ownership of Your Content. We do not claim ownership of it.
To operate the Service, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, store, copy, display, and transmit Your Content solely for the purpose of providing the Service to you and the family members you authorize. This license exists only so we can show your tree to the right people, back it up, and keep it running. It ends when Your Content is deleted from the Service, except for backups kept for a limited period and anything other users are still permitted to access (see Section 9).
You are responsible for Your Content. You represent that you have the rights necessary to add it and that it does not violate these Terms or the rights of others.
6. Adding information about other people
Family history necessarily includes information about other people. This section is important.
Living relatives. When you add information about a living, identifiable person, you represent that you have the right to do so, and that doing so does not violate that person's privacy or any law that applies to you. Where the law or basic respect requires it, you should obtain that person's consent before adding personal information about them. If a living person asks to have information about themselves removed or corrected, you agree to honor reasonable requests, and we may act on such requests directly (see Section 11).
Deceased relatives. You may add information about deceased family members, including ancestors who never had an account. You agree to treat this information respectfully and accurately to the best of your knowledge.
Sensitive information. Do not add highly sensitive information about living people (such as medical, financial, or government-identifier details) unless you have a clear right to do so and a genuine family-history reason.
You are solely responsible for the information you add about others, and you agree to indemnify us for claims arising from it as described in Section 14.
7. Family trees, roles, and the family historian
A family tree on the Service typically has one or more members who actively build and maintain it (a "family historian") and other members who mainly view it. The historian and other authorized members may add, edit, or remove information within that tree, including information you contributed.
You understand and agree that:
- Information you add to a shared tree may be visible to, and editable by, other authorized members of that tree.
- Other members may add information about you, your relatives, or shared ancestors.
- We do not control or mediate disputes between family members about the content of a tree. We may, but are not obligated to, take action on a dispute, and we are not responsible for resolving disagreements within a family.
8. Acceptable use
You agree not to:
- Use the Service for anything other than legitimate personal and family history purposes.
- Add content that is false in a harmful way, defamatory, harassing, hateful, obscene, or unlawful.
- Add information about a person in violation of their rights or applicable law.
- Upload material that infringes anyone's intellectual property or privacy rights.
- Upload viruses, malware, or anything designed to harm or disrupt the Service.
- Attempt to access accounts, trees, or data you are not authorized to access.
- Scrape, harvest, or collect data from the Service by automated means.
- Resell, rent, or commercially exploit the Service or other users' content.
- Impersonate another person or misrepresent your identity or relationship to a family.
- Use the Service to promote, campaign for, raise funds for, or attack any government, political party, movement, monarchy, or faction (see Section 8.1).
We may remove content or suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms.
8.1 Political neutrality and non-political use
Lao Family Tree is a non-political platform dedicated to family history, heritage, and culture. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated on behalf of any government, former government, monarchy, political party, political movement, or faction — including any connected to the past or present politics of Laos or the Lao diaspora.
You agree not to use the Service to:
- promote, campaign for, raise funds for, or recruit on behalf of any government, former government, monarchy, political party, movement, or faction;
- attack, disparage, or incite hostility toward any such group, its leaders, or its supporters;
- claim or imply that Lao Family Tree, or any family or content on it, supports, endorses, or is affiliated with any political cause; or
- turn the Service, or any family tree, into a forum for political argument or conflict.
We ask every member to keep the Service focused on honoring family and shared heritage, whatever their personal political views may be. This rule applies equally to everyone and to all sides of any political question. We may remove political content and suspend or terminate accounts that use the Service for the purposes prohibited above.
9. Privacy
Your use of the Service is also governed by our Privacy Policy, which explains what information we collect and how we handle it. By using the Service, you agree to the practices described there.
Family trees on the Service are private by default and are intended to be visible only to the members you invite. However, you understand that any information you share with other members is in their hands as well, and we cannot control what authorized members do with information they can see.
10. Account deletion and what happens to your content
You may delete your account at any time through your account settings or by contacting us at support@laofamilytree.com.
Because family trees are shared, deleting your account does not necessarily delete all content connected to you. In particular:
- Information you added to a shared family tree (including relatives, photos, and stories) may remain available to the other authorized members of that tree, who may continue to use and maintain it.
- Information that other members added about you or about shared relatives belongs to those members' contributions and is not removed simply because you leave.
- We may retain limited information as required for legal, security, or backup purposes for a reasonable period.
If you are the only or primary maintainer of a tree, deleting your account does not automatically transfer or delete that tree. Its content may remain stored, and other members may lose the ability to add to or edit it. Contact us at support@laofamilytree.com to request that a tree be transferred to another member or deleted.
If you want specific information about you removed, contact us at support@laofamilytree.com and we will respond to reasonable requests consistent with our obligations to other family members and applicable law.
11. Removal and correction requests
If you believe content on the Service is inaccurate, was added without the right to do so, or violates your privacy or other rights, contact us at support@laofamilytree.com. We will review reasonable requests and may remove or correct content, contact the member who added it, or take other appropriate action. We try to balance the privacy of individuals against families' legitimate interest in preserving their history.
12. Our intellectual property
The Service itself — including its design, software, branding, the "Lao Family Tree" name and logo, and all related materials — is owned by us or our licensors and is protected by intellectual property laws. These Terms do not give you any right to use our branding or software except as needed to use the Service normally. Your Content is yours, as described in Section 5.
13. Disclaimers
The Service is provided "as is" and "as available," without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, to the fullest extent permitted by law. We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, secure, error-free, or that any content is accurate or will be preserved without loss.
You are responsible for keeping your own copies of important photos, documents, and information. While we take reasonable measures to protect and back up data, we are not a substitute for your own backups, and you should not rely on the Service as the only place your family records exist.
14. Limitation of liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, Lao Family Tree LLC and its operators will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for any loss of data, content, profits, or goodwill, arising out of or related to your use of the Service.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, our total liability for any claim arising out of or relating to the Service will not exceed the greater of (a) the amount you paid us for the Service in the twelve months before the claim, or (b) USD 100.
Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations, so some of the above may not apply to you.
15. Indemnification
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Lao Family Tree LLC and its operators from any claims, damages, losses, and reasonable legal costs arising out of (a) Your Content, (b) information you added about another person, (c) your violation of these Terms, or (d) your violation of any law or the rights of any third party.
16. Suspension and termination
We may suspend or terminate your access to the Service, with or without notice, if you violate these Terms, if we are required to by law, or if we reasonably believe it is necessary to protect the Service or other users. You may stop using the Service and delete your account at any time. Sections that by their nature should survive termination (including Sections 5, 6, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 18) will survive.
17. Changes to these Terms
We may update these Terms from time to time. If we make material changes, we will take reasonable steps to notify you, such as posting a notice on the Service or updating the "Last updated" date above. Your continued use of the Service after changes take effect means you accept the updated Terms.
18. Governing law and disputes
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Washington, United States of America, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. You agree that any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service will be resolved in the courts located in the State of Washington, USA, unless applicable law requires otherwise.
If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, the rest will remain in effect.
19. Contact us
Questions about these Terms? Contact us at:
Lao Family Tree — a home for Lao family history, preserved across generations and continents.