Terms of service

Ancesta researches the documented history of a surname: its origins, meaning, spelling variants, migrations, distribution, and the records in which it appears.

Surname history research, not personal genealogy. We research the name itself, not your personal line of descent. A report about a surname is not evidence that you descend from any person, family, or place mentioned in it. Sharing a surname with a historical figure implies no proven relationship. We never research living private individuals, request information about your relatives, or handle DNA.

Reports are provided for personal, informational, and entertainment purposes. They are not official documents and are not suitable as evidence for legal, immigration, inheritance, citizenship-by-descent, or genealogical-certification purposes.

Our research is performed by AI systems operating under our published methodology (see the Research Standards page), which requires citations for every claim, a minimum of two independent sources for any claim marked "confident", and honest presentation of gaps and disagreements in the record.

We stand behind that process, but the historical record itself is incomplete, inconsistent, and sometimes wrong. We therefore do not warrant that any individual finding is free of error, and findings may change as sources are added or corrected (see §6). Where our research cannot support a finding, the report says so rather than guessing. If your report falls below our own research threshold, our Refund Policy applies automatically.

Prices are shown in USD and charged once per surname unless a bundle is stated. Payment is processed by Stripe; we do not store your card details. Reports are typically delivered within minutes of purchase and email verification, to an online dashboard associated with your verified email address.

Immediate delivery consent. By purchasing, you request that we begin the research and deliver your digital report immediately. If you are in the UK, EU, or another jurisdiction with a statutory withdrawal period for digital content, you acknowledge that delivery begins at once and that you lose the statutory right of withdrawal when delivery begins — our own Refund Policy continues to apply in full. (This consent is also collected as a checkbox at checkout.)

On full payment, we grant you a perpetual, personal, non-exclusive license to view, download, print, and share your report, its PDF, and its share graphics — including posting them publicly and giving printed copies to family.

We retain all rights in the Ancesta format, design, templates, brand, and the underlying research corpus. Because many customers may commission the same surname, no customer acquires exclusive rights in research about a surname. You may not resell reports, offer them as your own service, remove Ancesta branding from share graphics, or use our content to train competing systems.

Access is tied to a verified email address. Keep access to that inbox secure; anyone who controls it controls the account. Claim links attach a report to the first account that completes verification through them and are then spent. Share links grant read-only access to anyone holding the link; you are responsible for where you share them, and you can ask us to deactivate a share link at history@ancesta.co.

We may re-run or update research when new sources become available. Where findings change, we present the update transparently in your dashboard rather than silently editing the report. Prior findings that are corrected are superseded.

You agree not to: misuse the free check or purchase flow (bulk scraping, automated querying, resale of results); attempt to access reports, data, or accounts that are not yours; interfere with the service; or use the service to harass any person or to misrepresent research findings as personal lineage proof.

We may suspend access for breach of these terms. Where we do so without a corresponding breach on your part, we will refund affected undelivered purchases.

Except as expressly stated in these terms and our Refund Policy, the service is provided "as is" and we disclaim implied warranties to the maximum extent permitted by law. To the maximum extent permitted by law, our total liability for any claim arising from the service is limited to the amount you paid us for the report giving rise to the claim, and we are not liable for indirect or consequential losses.

Your statutory rights. Nothing in these terms excludes or limits rights you have under applicable consumer law that cannot be excluded — including the Australian Consumer Law and UK consumer protection legislation. Where such rights apply, these terms operate in addition to them, not instead of them.

We may update these terms; the effective date above will change and material changes will be notified to account holders by email. Continued use after changes take effect is acceptance. Purchases are governed by the terms in force at the time of purchase.

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Texas, USA, without regard to conflict-of-law rules, except where the mandatory consumer law of your country of residence applies instead. Before any formal dispute, contact history@ancesta.co — genuine problems are usually fixed faster than they can be litigated.

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