Data protection and Ancestris reviews

[Maxwell486]

I don't want to cause any offence to Ancestris by this question but some contacts of mine have warned me about using Ancestris! It looks very good in my opinion and want to use it so this isn't what I wanted to hear.

I have two specific questions: data protection - on the basis that 'if something is free you are the product', what assurances can Ancestris management give me about how secure my tree and user data is? Is any data distributed or sold elsewhere without the user's permission (like Family Tree Builder does)?

Secondly - I have read this about Ancestris testimonials which worried me ; 'TESTIMONIALS section is completely fake, reverse image search for the people providing the reviews are from an eye website; "ALICE" who is supposed to be a historian is actually a blogger named Deinah Storm; Guillaume de Morant does seem to be legit, another woman on there is a stock image. Not sure why the fake testimonials unless there is a data miner or something else hidden in the software. Just be cautious'. I'm not technical enough to check this so I was wondering if this is true? Thanks all. 

[Zurga]

Ancestris is a free and open-source software : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_and_open-source_software
You can use it, distribute it, fork it, modify it without any charges of any kind.
The money needed to develop and sustain the costs of the web-site is collected via donation to the association.
Please read information about the non-profit association sustaining ancestris here : https://docs.ancestris.org/books/association-e00/chapter/mission-and-resources

Data protection : Ancestris doesn't access to your data. Your data are on your computer and are not transferred to anyone. On our server, you could only find the support of the web-site this forum, the documentation on the support of the code-base.
If you use Ancestris without create an account on this forum, we don't know your email or any other information about you.
So we don't keep or sell any data to anybody.

Testimonials section of web-site : All the testimonial are real. The only "fake" part could be some of the pictures. There are users that allow us to mention theirs words on Ancestris but didn't want to be pictured. They accept that we use some stock images to illustrates theirs testimonials.
Please, display the French page, you will see more testimonials from french users with their real picture.

Zurga

[arvernes]

Hi,
I guess you're doing a confusion. Here, you have with Ancestris a genealogy program that runs on your computer only. So as long as you don't give your computer to someone else, your data stay in it. If an hacker attacks your internet connexion, maybe he will be able to enter into your computer and steal your datas.
So as I said, you're doing a confusion between Ancestris (the genealogy program), and Ancestry, a web site which has nothing to do with Ancestris.

[Maxwell486]

Thanks for explaining. I think my contacts (and I ) have assumed Ancestris was an online host like Ancestry or Find My Past. I do think your website should emphasis the data security safety aspects and make clear that the software is an offline gedcom editor. The Testimonials section should be updated using only verifiable accounts though. It would reassure new customers in the UK that you can be trusted. Ancestris is a new name to most people here. I would also encourage you to put a series of tutorials on UK YouTube. At the moment there is only one video, called 'Why you might want to use Ancestris to build your family tree'. More help needed for newbies! Thanks again.

[Zurga]

It would be great if we have time and resources to create online content for youtube.
If you find Ancestris useful, don't hesitate to create your own tutorial.
Any help is welcome.

Zurga

[mother10]

Here an answer from a user that only uses Ancestris for a couple of months.

The first time I stumbled on Ancestris, I started looking for reviews because I never heard of this program. And there were a few that said the same as what you mention.
But those reviews were very very old, from the time Ancestris started.
I agree there should be more tutorials for newbees, and I already offered my help. So stay tuned help is on its way.
But it wil take some time.

The more I use Ancestris the more enthousiastic I become. It has way more features then I ever thought when I first read the docs.
I use version 12 because they made a new gedcom import for Aldfaer that I was using, especially because I asked for it.

They are very willing to help in case you have any problems.

So forget what you were told. That might be said because unfortunately Ancestris is not very well known in a lot of countries, and has not yet the appreciation it deserves.

And indeed, when you search for Ancestris, you get a lot of results for Ancestry which is a totally different thing, where you DO have to pay for.

Regards,
Mother10