Our Family Research Sync / Privacy

Privacy policy

This policy describes how the privately operated Our Family Research Sync application uses Google Drive access to maintain the owner's family-history research records.

Effective: November 1, 2026

Who this applies to

The application is operated for a family-history research project, Ghosts in the Margins. Google Drive authorization is intended for the research owner or another person explicitly permitted by the owner. The application is not a public Google sign-in or family account service.

Google data the application accesses

With the account holder's Google authorization, the sync software can list files and folders and read their names, identifiers, sizes, timestamps, version/checksum information and source URLs. In configured research folders it may read selected small text and research files, including CSV, JSON, Markdown and SQLite research checkpoints, to index evidence and recognize revised documents.

The current implementation requests the broad Google Drive OAuth permission necessary to discover existing research files and create new versioned outputs. This permission can technically cover more of the authorized Google Drive than the particular research folders the software is configured to inventory.

Why the information is used

Access is used to track document provenance and revisions, avoid duplicate imports, maintain research references, flag potential overlaps for review, and—only after the owner enables write mode—create versioned private research database files and audit summaries. A name or keyword match is not treated as genealogical proof. The application does not use Google Drive content for advertising or to sell user data.

Where information is stored and processed

Original materials remain in the Google Drive collections controlled by the owner. The synchronization system can preserve file metadata, source links and selected text in versioned SQLite research databases stored back in the owner's private Google Drive. When the GitHub Actions workflow is enabled, it processes the material in temporary runner storage; OAuth credentials are intended to be held in protected GitHub Actions secrets rather than in the website's source code. Routine automated logs are designed to report summary counts rather than private document text.

Sharing and public publication

Google Drive and GitHub provide the storage and processing services needed for this owner-operated workflow. The application does not intentionally distribute private research documents to the public or to advertisers. Public family-history stories and images are managed through a separate editorial review and publication process. The website you are reading is informational and does not display private Drive content.

Retention and deletion

Research originals and versioned evidence releases are kept under the owner's control until the owner chooses to remove them. Version histories are intentionally retained to preserve provenance and allow review of changes. Revoking Google's authorization stops future authorized API requests, but does not automatically delete already created copies, logs or database releases. The owner can delete these separately from the storage systems where they reside.

How to revoke access

The account holder can review and revoke the app's permissions from Google Account → Third-party connections. The owner can also disable the research synchronization workflow and remove its credentials from the private GitHub repository configuration. Revocation may interrupt synchronization without deleting the existing research archive.

Contact and changes

Questions or requests about this research application's use of Google data can be sent to the administrator using the support email displayed on the Google OAuth consent screen. This privacy policy may be updated if the application's storage, scope, sharing or access practices change; the effective date will be updated when that happens.