Data & Privacy

Your Data, Your Control

FamilyCodex is self-hosted software. This means:

• You own all your data - It lives on your server, not ours
• We never see your family tree - Your data never leaves your server
• Full control - Export, backup, or delete your data anytime
• No vendor lock-in - Standard GEDCOM export ensures portability

How Your Data is Stored

FamilyCodex stores all data in JSON files on your server:

• data/familycodex.json - Your family tree data
• data/users.json - User accounts (passwords are hashed)
• data/settings.json - Site configuration
• data/media/ - Uploaded photos and documents

No Database Required

FamilyCodex uses a file-based storage system. This makes it easy to backup, migrate, and maintain without complex database administration.

Backup & Export

Protect your data with regular backups and exports.

Manual Backup

Simply download your entire data/ folder via FTP or your hosting file manager. This includes all family data, user accounts, and uploaded media.

GEDCOM Export

Export your family tree as a standard GEDCOM file:

1. Go to Tools → Export GEDCOM
2. Choose export options (include media, privacy settings)
3. Click Export
4. Download the .ged file

Automatic Backups

FamilyCodex automatically creates backups of your data files in the data/.backups/ directory. Configure backup retention in Settings.

Privacy Controls

Control who can see what in your family tree.

Living Person Protection

By default, FamilyCodex protects living individuals. Non-logged-in visitors cannot see:

• Full names of living people (shown as "Living Person")
• Birth dates and places of living individuals
• Photos of living individuals

Individual Privacy Settings

Mark specific individuals as private to completely hide them from non-authenticated users:

1. Open the individual's profile
2. Click Edit
3. Enable Private checkbox
4. Save changes

User Roles

Control access with different user roles:

• Admin: Full access to all features and settings
• Editor: Can add and edit individuals, families, and media
• Viewer/Member: Can view the tree but cannot make changes

Registration Approval

New users who register must be approved by an admin before they can access the tree. This ensures only authorized family members can view your data.

Security Measures

FamilyCodex includes multiple security features to protect your data.

• Password Hashing: All passwords are securely hashed using bcrypt. Even if someone accesses your data files, passwords cannot be recovered.
• CSRF Protection: All forms include cross-site request forgery protection.
• Rate Limiting: Login and registration forms have rate limiting to prevent brute force attacks.
• Secure Sessions: Session management follows security best practices.
• Input Validation: All user input is validated and sanitized.

Security Recommendations

• Use HTTPS (SSL certificate) for your domain
• Keep your FamilyCodex installation updated
• Use strong, unique passwords
• Change the default admin password immediately after installation
• Regularly review user accounts and remove unused ones

Data Deletion

You have full control over deleting your data.

Delete Individual Records

To delete an individual from your tree, open their profile, click Edit, then Delete. This removes all their data including linked events and media associations.

Delete All Data

To completely remove all data from your installation:

1. Delete all files in the data/ directory
2. The next time you visit the site, fresh data files will be created

Uninstall FamilyCodex

To completely remove FamilyCodex, simply delete all files from your web server. There is no database to clean up since all data is stored in files.