Privacy
Last updated June 16, 2026
Capsule is a private, invite-only archive for one family. It exists to keep your family's history and everyday life in one safe place — not to build a profile of you, not to advertise to you, and not to share you with anyone outside the family. This page explains, in plain language, what we keep and why.
What we collect
We only hold what a family puts into Capsule, plus the minimum needed to run the service:
- Family records — names, nicknames, birth and death dates and places, relationships, photos, written stories, recipes, audio recordings, and the events you plan together.
- Your account — your email address, and your phone number if you choose to add one. We use email to send sign-in links; we never use a password.
- Contact details for invitations — a family historian may store an email or phone number for a relative so they can be invited. These are visible only to the historian and are used solely to send that one invitation.
- Basic technical data — the timestamps and session cookies needed to keep you securely signed in.
How we use it
- To show your family their own archive and feed.
- To send sign-in links and the notifications you ask for.
- To keep the service secure and working.
We do not sell your data. We do not use it for advertising. We do not share it with other families or with anyone outside your family. If you opt into optional helpers (for example, organizing a recipe or transcribing a recording), only the content you submit is processed to produce that result, and it is never used to train anyone's models.
Who can see your information
Only invited, signed-in members of your family can see your family's archive. Membership is checked on every request — a member of one family can never see another family's content. Each family has a historian who manages the tree and invitations. Contact details kept for inviting relatives are visible only to the historian, never to other members.
How long we keep it
Family archives are meant to last, so records and contributions remain until the family removes them or the historian deletes them. When you delete your account, your login is removed promptly (see below). Backups made for safety are rotated out on a regular cycle.
Deleting your account
You can delete your account at any time from Settings. Deleting your account removes your login and your ability to sign in. Because Capsule is a shared family record, your place in the family tree — your name, dates, and relationships — remains so the tree stays whole. It is unlinked from your login and is from then on managed by the family historian. If you want your genealogical record removed as well, ask your historian.
Your choices
- Sign out on any device at any time.
- Delete your account and login yourself, with no email or wait.
- Ask your historian to correct or remove records about you in the tree.
Children
Family trees include people of all ages. Records about minors are entered and managed by the responsible adults in the family, and are visible only inside that private family. Minors do not hold their own accounts.
Contact
Questions about your privacy? Email privacy@capsule.family, or talk to your family historian.