This Privacy Policy explains how Tyler Mason, a Texas sole proprietor doing business as Genesis Legacy Journeys("GLJ," "we," "us," or "our"), collects, uses, shares, and protects personal information in connection with the website at genesislegacyjourneys.com(the "Site") and our genealogy research, media, and hosted heritage-travel services (collectively, the "Services").
Genealogy and family-history work is sensitive by nature. It involves not only information about you, but also information about your family members, relatives, and ancestors — some of whom may be living. We treat this information with care. Please read this Privacy Policy carefully so you understand what we collect and how we use it.
This Privacy Policy is incorporated into our Website Terms of Service.
1. Scope and Who This Applies To
This Privacy Policy applies to:
- Visitors to the Site;
- Clients who engage our Services and provide information about themselves and their families; and
- To the extent described below, individuals whose information is provided to us by a client or collected by us during research (including relatives and ancestors).
If you provide us with information about another person, you are responsible for ensuring you have the right to do so and for informing that person about how their information may be used, as described in Section 11.
2. Information We Collect
A. Information you provide directly.
- Identity and contact information: name, email address, postal address, telephone number, and similar details.
- Account information: username and credentials, if you create an account.
- Family and genealogical information you submit: names, dates and places of birth, marriage, and death; relationships and family structures; family stories and oral history; photographs, documents, letters, and other family records; and other details about you and your relatives and ancestors.
- Travel-related information: passport details, date of birth, nationality, emergency-contact information, dietary or accessibility needs, travel preferences, and information needed to arrange travel. (Some of this is collected under the Master Services Agreement and applicable travel forms.)
- Payment information: billing details. Payment-card data is generally collected and processed by our third-party payment processor, not stored by us, except for records of transactions.
- Communications: information you provide when you contact us, request a consultation, respond to surveys, or otherwise communicate with us.
B. Information about relatives and ancestors. To perform genealogy research, we collect and generate information about your family members, relatives, and ancestors. Some of these individuals may be living. This information comes from you, from family members you direct us to, and from the research sources described below. See Section 11 for how we handle data about living relatives.
C. Information we obtain from research sources and third parties. In the course of research, we collect information from third-party sources such as public records, vital records, archives, libraries, church and immigration records, census records, historical databases, genealogical databases and repositories, and similar sources. We may also receive information from suppliers and partners who help us deliver the Services.
D. Sensitive information. Depending on the engagement, the information we handle may include categories that are treated as sensitive under certain privacy laws. This can include, for example: precise family-relationship and origin information; religious or ethnic-origin information that emerges from records; passport and government-identifier information for travel; and, where a client chooses to share it, information derived from DNA or genetic-testing results or other health-adjacent information.
We do not perform DNA testing. Where a client shares DNA or genetic-test results (for example, from a consumer testing service), we use that information only as needed to support the research the client has requested, and subject to the limitations in our Genealogy-Findings Disclaimer regarding DNA interpretation.
E. Information collected automatically. When you use the Site, we and our service providers may automatically collect certain technical information, such as IP address, device and browser type, pages viewed, referring pages, and usage data, through cookies and similar technologies. See Section 10 (Cookies and Analytics).
3. How We Use Information (Purposes)
We use personal information to:
- Provide, perform, and deliver the Services, including conducting genealogy research and producing client deliverables (such as a client website and research film);
- Plan, book, and host travel and heritage-trip components, including coordinating with travel suppliers;
- Create, host, and maintain client websites, research films, and trip videos as agreed in the MSA and any media release;
- Communicate with you, respond to inquiries, and provide customer support;
- Process payments and maintain transaction records;
- Operate, maintain, secure, and improve the Site and Services;
- Comply with legal obligations, enforce our agreements, and protect the rights, property, and safety of GLJ, our clients, and others; and
- With your consent where required, send marketing communications and use certain client content for marketing (for example, where a client grants a public-use license to a research film), as governed by the applicable media release.
We do not use sensitive family or genealogical information for advertising or marketing purposes except with appropriate consent and as permitted by the applicable media release and applicable law.
4. How We Share Information
We share personal information only as described below:
- Service providers and processors: companies that perform services for us, such as website hosting, IT and security, payment processing, video and media production, scheduling, communications, and analytics. These providers are authorized to use personal information only as necessary to provide services to us.
- Travel suppliers: airlines, ground operators, lodging providers, guides, tour operators, and similar vendors, to the extent needed to arrange and deliver travel. These suppliers act as independent contractors and may handle your information under their own privacy practices.
- Research sources and repositories: where necessary to conduct research, we may submit inquiries or requests to archives, record offices, and databases. We share only what is needed to obtain records.
- Within a client engagement:research deliverables typically include information about the client's family and are shared with the client (and, at the client's direction, with family members the client designates).
- Legal and protective disclosures: when we believe disclosure is required by law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request, or is necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety of GLJ, our clients, or others, or to enforce our agreements.
- Business transfers: in connection with a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization, or sale of assets, in which case personal information may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to this Privacy Policy or a successor policy.
We do not sell your personal information.We do not sell personal information for money, and we do not "share" or "sell" personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising as those terms are defined under applicable privacy laws.
5. Data Security
We maintain reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information against unauthorized access, use, disclosure, alteration, or destruction, taking into account the sensitive nature of genealogical and family data. These measures may include access controls, encryption in transit where appropriate, and limiting access to personnel and providers who need it. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. You are responsible for keeping your account credentials confidential.
6. Data Retention
We retain personal information for as long as needed to provide the Services, maintain client deliverables (such as a hosted client website, research film, or trip video) for the period agreed with the client, comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. Retention periods for specific deliverables and for hosting may be set out in the MSA. When information is no longer needed, we will delete, de-identify, or archive it in accordance with applicable law and our retention practices. GLJ generally retains client deliverables and related records for the duration of the agreed hosting term and for up to three (3) years after a project concludes, unless a longer period is required by law.
7. International Data Transfers
GLJ is based in the United States, and our Services include international travel and may involve clients, relatives, suppliers, and records located outside the United States. As a result, personal information may be transferred to, stored in, and processed in the United States and in other countries, including countries that may have data-protection laws different from those in your country of residence. Where required by applicable law, we will take steps to provide an appropriate level of protection for such transfers. By using the Services, you understand that your information may be transferred and processed as described in this Privacy Policy.
8. Your Privacy Rights
Depending on where you live and which laws apply, you may have rights regarding your personal information, which may include the rights to: access or obtain a copy of your personal information; correct inaccurate information; request deletion; object to or restrict certain processing; withdraw consent where processing is based on consent; and not be discriminated against for exercising your rights. The specific rights available to you depend on the applicable law.
- If you are a resident of the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and/or UK GDPR may provide you with certain rights.
- If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CCPA/CPRA) may provide you with certain rights.
- If you are a Texas resident, the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act (TDPSA) may provide you with certain rights.
- Other U.S. state privacy laws may also apply depending on your state of residence.
To exercise any available right, contact us at hello@genesislegacyjourneys.com(see Section 12). We will respond as required by applicable law. We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling your request, and certain requests may be subject to legal exceptions — for example, where information about a relative or ancestor is also another person's information, where records were obtained from third-party public sources, or where retention is required by law.
9. Children's Data
The Site and Services are intended for adults and are not directed to children under 13 (or the higher minimum age in your jurisdiction). We do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children through the Site. If you believe a child has provided us personal information through the Site, please contact us at hello@genesislegacyjourneys.com and we will take appropriate steps to delete it.
Genealogy research may necessarily involve information about minors who are members of a client's family (for example, dates of birth of living children within a family tree). Such information is provided by the client, not collected from the child, and is handled as part of the research engagement and subject to Section 11.
10. Cookies and Analytics
The Site may use cookies and similar technologies to operate the Site, remember preferences, understand usage, and improve performance. We may use analytics providers to help us understand how the Site is used. You can usually control cookies through your browser settings; disabling some cookies may affect Site functionality.
11. Consent for Data About Living Relatives and Other Individuals
Genealogy work frequently involves information about living relatives and other individuals. If you provide us with information about another living person — or if you ask us to research, document, or include a living person in your family materials — you represent and warrant that you have the right to provide that information to us and that you have obtained any consent required under applicable law for us to use it for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy.
You agree to inform living relatives, where appropriate, that their information may be collected, documented, and included in research deliverables (such as a client website or research film). Where a living individual asks us to access, correct, or delete information about them, we will handle the request in accordance with applicable law, recognizing that the same information may also belong to the client or other family members and may be subject to the limitations in Section 8.
12. Contact for Privacy Requests
For privacy questions or to exercise a privacy right, contact:
Genesis Legacy Journeys — Privacy
Tyler Mason
Email: hello@genesislegacyjourneys.com
Website: genesislegacyjourneys.com
511 Lets Roll Drive, Fischer, Texas 78623
13. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "Last Updated" date above and post the updated policy on the Site. Material changes will be communicated as required by applicable law. Your continued use of the Site or Services after changes become effective constitutes your acceptance of the updated Privacy Policy.