MyHeritage.com Family Graph API - Terms of Service Close window

Last Revision: June 15, 2011

Introduction

MyHeritage.com’s mission is to give people the power to create family-enabled applications.
The Family Graph API is a free service offered by MyHeritage.com to achieve this goal.

Family Graph applications and developers are required to comply with the following:

Principles

Create a great user experience

  • Build engaging family-enabled applications and services
  • Give users choice and control
  • Help users share expressive and relevant content

Be trustworthy

  • Respect privacy
  • Don't mislead, confuse, defraud, or surprise users
  • Don't spam - encourage authentic communications

Policies

A. Features and Functionality

  1. You must not violate any law or the rights of any individual or entity, and must not expose MyHeritage or MyHeritage users to harm or legal liability as determined by us in our sole discretion.
  2. You must not include functionality that proxies, requests or collects MyHeritage usernames or passwords.
  3. You must not circumvent (or claim to circumvent) our intended limitations on core MyHeritage features and functionality.
  4. If you offer a service for a user that integrates user data into a physical product (such as a scrapbook or calendar), you must only create a physical product for that user's personal and non-commercial use.
  5. If you exceed, or plan to exceed, any of the following thresholds please contact us as you may be subject to additional terms: (>5M MAU) or (>100M API calls per day) or (>50M impressions per day).
  6. Your website must offer an explicit "Log Out" option that also logs the user out of MyHeritage.
  7. You must not use or make derivative use of MyHeritage icons, or use terms for MyHeritage features and functionality, if such use could confuse users into thinking that the reference is to MyHeritage features or functionality.
  8. You must not write apps that attempt to harvest MyHeritage.com data systematically.
  9. If your app receives a GEDCOM file with the user’s data as a by-product of carrying out a service for the user (e.g. printing a tree chart), it must not continue to store the GEDCOM file after completing the applicable service.

B. Storing and Using Data You Receive From Us

  1. You will only request the data you need to operate your application.
  2. You may cache data you receive through use of the Family Graph API in order to improve your application's user experience, but you should try to keep the data up to date. This permission does not give you any rights to such data.
  3. You will have a privacy policy that tells users what user data you are going to use and how you will use, display, share, or transfer that data and you will include your privacy policy URL in the Developer Application.
  4. Data about MyHeritage members other than the current user can only be used in the context of the user's experience on your application.
  5. Subject to certain restrictions, including on transfer, users give you their basic account information when they connect with your application. For all other data obtained through use of the Family Graph API, you must obtain explicit consent from the user who provided the data to us before using it for any purpose other than displaying it back to the user on your application.
  6. You will not directly or indirectly transfer any data you receive from us, including user data or MyHeritage User IDs, to (or use such data in connection with) any ad network, ad exchange, data broker, or other advertising or monetization related toolset, even if a user consents to such transfer or use. By indirectly we mean you cannot, for example, transfer data to a third party who then transfers the data to an ad network. By any data we mean all data obtained through use of the Family Graph API or other development tools, including aggregate, anonymous or derivative data.
  7. You will not use MyHeritage User IDs for any purpose outside your application (e.g., your infrastructure, code, or services necessary to build and run your application). MyHeritage User IDs may be used with external services that you use to build and run your application, such as a web infrastructure service or a distributed computing platform, but only if those services are necessary to running your application and the service has a contractual obligation with you to keep MyHeritage User IDs confidential.
  8. If you need an anonymous unique identifier to share outside your application with third parties such as content partners, advertisers, or ad networks, you must use our mechansim. You must never share this anonymous unique identifier with a data broker, information broker, or any other service that we may define as such under our sole discretion.
  9. You will not sell any data. If you are acquired by or merge with a third party, you can continue to use user data within your application, but you cannot transfer data outside your application.
  10. If you stop using Family Graph or if we disable your application, you must delete all data you have received through use of the Family Graph API unless: (a) it is basic account information; or (b) you have received explicit consent from the user to retain their data.
  11. You cannot use a information about other MyHeritage members who are not the current user outside of your application, even if a user consents to such use, but you can use connections between users who have both connected to your application.
  12. You will delete all data you receive from us concerning a user if the user asks you to do so, and will provide an easily accessible mechanism for users to make such a request. We may require you to delete data you receive from the Family Graph API if you violate our terms.
  13. You will not include data you receive from us concerning a user in any advertising creative, even if a user consents to such use.
  14. You must not give your application key to another party, unless that party is an agent acting on your behalf as an operator of your application. You are responsible for all activities that occur under your account identifiers.

C. Prohibited Content

You are responsible for all content of and within your application, including advertisements and user-generated content. You must not promote, or provide content referencing, facilitating, containing or using, the following:
  1. Alcohol-related content (unless the appropriate Demographic Restrictions are used), or sale of tobacco products, ammunition and/or firearms.
  2. Content that infringes upon the rights of any third party, including intellectual property rights, privacy, publicity or other personal or proprietary right, or that is deceptive or fraudulent.
  3. Gambling, including without limitation, any online casino, sports books, bingo or poker.
  4. Illegal activity and/or illegal contests, pyramid schemes, sweepstakes or chain letters; if you run, reference, or facilitate a legally permissible sweepstakes, contest, or other promotion you are subject to MyHeritage's Promotions Guidelines.
  5. Content that is hateful, threatening, defamatory, or pornographic; incites violence; or contains nudity or graphic or gratuitous violence.

D. Enforcement

We can take enforcement action against you and any or all of your applications if we determine in our sole judgment that you or your application violates Family Graph's Terms of Service. Enforcement action is both automated and manual, and can include disabling your application, restricting you and your application's access to Family Graph functionality, terminating our agreements with you, or any other action as we in our sole discretion deem appropriate.

Communication with developers takes place via an email sent from the myheritage.com or FamilyGraph domain to the Developer Contact email address registered to the application. To stay in touch, please ensure that your email address is current and that you do not filter out any such messages.

E. Changes

We can change these policies at any time without prior notice as we deem necessary. Your continued use of the API constitutes acceptance of those changes.