What this service is

The 1870 Project is a privacy-first genealogy research platform with two parts:

• Research tools — anonymous, token-based access to genealogy records, AI portraits, storybooks, and the DNA Decoder. No account required.
• Our Story Cloud (AI Family Guide) — a shared family space where you store memories, photos, and a living family tree. The AI Guide helps you text relatives, reads their replies, and turns their stories into structured research leads.

Using either part means you accept these terms.

Credits — how they work

Research tools run on credits drawn from your personal balance.

• Free start: Every new session gets 6 free credits — enough for 3 archive searches
• Buying more: Purchase credit packages from the main site via Stripe
• When credits are consumed: Credits are deducted when a service starts running, not when results are returned. A search that returns no results still costs credits — the AI work happened.
• No refunds: Consumed credits are non-refundable. If a service fails due to a server error on our side, contact us and we'll restore the credits.
• Expiration: Credits expire 30 days after purchase
• Saving your balance: Credits are tied to your browser session token. Use the Save button to copy your session link before clearing browser data — that link restores your balance.

Service credit costs

DNA Decoder — what it does and doesn't do

The DNA Decoder accepts three input types: a list of DNA match names and shared cM values (Zero-Knowledge route), ethnicity percentages typed or pasted in, or a screenshot of your DNA results page. All three cost 50 credits.

The engine applies the Leeds Method clustering algorithm, cross-references historical migration patterns, and outputs a research strategy — including the specific NARA microfilm numbers and archive sources most likely to break your brick wall.

• Results are genealogical research directives, not medical or health advice
• DNA screenshots are purged from our servers immediately after text extraction — see our Privacy Policy
• The bundled Discovery search included after a DNA Decoder run is free — it does not cost additional credits

AI Family Guide — shared tree rules

The AI Family Guide lets you send invite links to relatives. When they submit a story, our AI extracts names, locations, and dates. Nothing enters your tree until you approve it.

• Creating a tree is free. Your tree starts with a platform credit subsidy.
• Invite links are single-use UUIDs with a 7-day expiry and a cap of 3 submissions per link. They never expose your tree ID or PIN.
• Story submissions are capped at 1,000 characters. Submissions go through abuse detection before any AI processing.
• Photo uploads go to an isolated quarantine bucket, have EXIF metadata stripped, and are converted to .webp before entering your tree's storage. Photos never pass through our Lambda functions as raw data.
• Approval is required. All external submissions sit in a pending queue. You approve or reject each one. Rejected submissions are soft-deleted — the content is not visible but an audit record is kept.
• When the treasury runs out, new memories and photos pause until a family member tops it up. Existing content is never deleted due to a low treasury.

Content rules for shared family spaces

Our Story Cloud is a family space. Keep it that way.

• No hate speech, harassment, or content targeting individuals
• No photos of living minors without parental consent
• No content that violates anyone's privacy or copyright

We may remove content that violates these rules. Repeated violations may result in tree suspension.

AI portraits — what they are

AI portraits are historically informed artistic interpretations generated by an image model. They are not real photographs and should never be represented as such.

• Do not upload them to FamilySearch, Ancestry, or similar databases as authentic historical photos
• Do not use them in legal, medical, or identity contexts
• You own the portraits you generate — use them freely for personal and family projects
• All portraits are watermarked as AI-generated

Your data

• Research results are never stored on our servers — they're returned to your browser and that's it
• DNA screenshots are purged immediately after OCR extraction
• Family tree data (memories, photos, people nodes) is stored until you delete the tree
• Photos move to deep archive storage after 1 year to reduce costs — they remain accessible
• You can export your entire tree at any time using the export button
• See our Privacy Policy for full details

Payments

• All payments processed by Stripe — we never see your card details
• Prices are in USD
• Credits are consumed when a service runs — not refundable except for verified server-side failures
• Contact the1870project@gmail.com for billing questions or to report a failed service

Limitations & liability

• Historical records may be incomplete, mis-indexed, or contain errors — we surface what the archives contain
• AI-generated content (portraits, storybooks, research strategies) is interpretive, not factual
• We link to external archives as a convenience — we don't control their availability or content
• Service may be briefly unavailable during maintenance or AWS incidents
• Our liability is limited to the credit value you paid in the current session. We are not liable for indirect or consequential damages.

Changes & governing law

We'll give 30 days notice before material changes to these terms. Continued use after that period means you accept the updated terms.

These terms are governed by the laws of the United States. Disputes are resolved through binding arbitration.

Questions?

Email the1870project@gmail.com — we respond within 2 business days.