Privacy policy
Your information, treated with the same care as your stories.
1. Who is responsible for your information
This notice concerns forgottenfamilystories.com, an independent editorial website operating under the name Forgotten Family Stories. References to we and us mean the operator of this publication, responsible for deciding how personal information received through this website is used. Contact [email protected] for privacy enquiries. This notice addresses visitors in the United Kingdom and the European Union/European Economic Area and the protections applicable under the UK GDPR and EU GDPR where those laws apply. It does not cover a retailer or printing service you visit through an external link.
2. Information you provide
If you email us, your message may contain your name, email address and any information you choose to include. You do not need an account to read the website. We do not provide a photo-upload service, take payments or create a private family archive for you. Please do not send identity documents, passwords, confidential family records or photographs of children when a general description will answer your question. If your message includes information about another person, share only what is necessary and make sure you are entitled to do so.
3. Technical information
Web hosting and security services may process an IP address, request time, requested URL, browser information and error information to deliver pages and protect the service. These records are different from advertising profiles. Our current site does not load analytics trackers, advertising pixels or social-media embeds. Search runs against the public content index in your browser; there is no search account or saved search history on our server. A search term included in a URL may nevertheless appear in ordinary request logs, so do not put confidential information in a search.
4. Why information is used and lawful bases
We use correspondence to answer questions, consider corrections and respond to privacy requests. Where applicable, this relies on our legitimate interests in operating an editorial website and handling communications, balanced against your rights. Security processing supports our legitimate interest in keeping the service reliable and preventing misuse. We may also process information to meet a legal obligation. If an optional activity requires consent, we will ask before starting it and explain how to withdraw that consent. We do not use automated decisions to produce legal or similarly significant effects about you.
5. Cookies and browser storage
The current site does not set advertising or analytics cookies. If you choose to save a guide, its public page address is stored in localStorage on that browser. This enables your requested reading list; it is not sent to us and does not contain your name or email address. You can remove individual saved guides, clear the list on the Saved page, or delete site data in your browser. Essential hosting or security features may use technically necessary mechanisms. Optional tracking must not be introduced without updating this notice and obtaining consent where required.
6. Affiliate links and third-party websites
Our guides may contain clearly identified affiliate links. If you follow one, a retailer or affiliate network may receive referral information and may use cookies or similar technologies under its own privacy and consent arrangements. We may receive a commission for a qualifying transaction, but we do not receive your payment-card details from that transaction. An external destination controls its own checkout, account, tracking and data practices. Review its notices before providing information. The initial editorial resource pages do not require clicking a tracked link to read their guidance.
7. Who information may be shared with
Information may be handled by service providers supporting web hosting, security or email, only as needed for those functions and subject to appropriate arrangements. We may disclose relevant information where legally required or to establish, exercise or defend legal claims. We do not sell correspondence or a reader mailing list. This site has no public comments, community profiles or automatic publication of emails. A message sent to us does not give permission to publish your family story; separate agreement would be needed.
8. International processing
Technical and email service providers may process information outside the country where you live. Where UK or EEA transfer rules apply, a restricted transfer needs an appropriate legal mechanism, such as an applicable adequacy decision or approved contractual safeguards, together with any necessary supplementary measures. Contact us for information about safeguards relevant to your enquiry. We do not promise that visiting an English-language website means all technical processing stays within the UK or EEA.
9. How long information is kept
We aim to retain ordinary correspondence only for as long as needed to resolve the enquiry, generally no longer than twelve months after it closes unless a continuing issue or legal requirement justifies longer retention. Security and hosting records should be retained for an appropriately limited period by the relevant provider, rather than kept indefinitely for marketing. Privacy-request records may be retained to demonstrate how a request was handled. Browser-saved guide links remain until you remove them or clear site data; we cannot delete data from a browser we do not control.
10. Your rights
Depending on the circumstances and applicable law, you may request access to your personal information, correction, deletion, restriction or a portable copy. You may object to processing based on legitimate interests, and may withdraw consent without affecting processing that was lawful before withdrawal. These rights are not absolute. Email the contact address with enough detail to identify the issue; we may need proportionate identity checks before disclosing personal information. You do not need to send a passport with an initial request. We will explain any lawful limitation rather than simply ignore the request.
11. Children and family material
The publication is written for adults and does not offer accounts for children. Avoid sending sensitive information about a child. When preparing an album or sharing a family recording, consider the privacy and wishes of everyone involved rather than treating possession of a photograph as unlimited permission to publish it. If you believe personal information about a child was sent to us inappropriately, contact us so we can assess and address the situation.
12. Security and complaints
No website or email system can guarantee absolute security. We use proportionate access and security measures and ask you not to send confidential records unnecessarily. Please contact us first if you are concerned about our handling of information. You can also complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk, or to the relevant data protection authority in the EEA, including where you live or work. This does not depend on first receiving a satisfactory response from us.
13. Changes to this notice
Last updated: 23 September 2026. We will update this page if the website introduces a new data-collection feature or materially changes its practices. A new subscription, account or upload service would require its own clear information at the point of collection. Earlier editorial articles do not override this notice.
Further information: UK Information Commissioner's Office and European Commission: data protection rights.