Genes Reunited Terms and Conditions «Back

There has been a change to these Terms and Conditions as of 30/04/08. Your continued use of the Genes Reunited Service constitutes your acceptance of the new Genes Reunited Terms and Conditions

1.Introduction.

These terms and conditions set out your rights and obligations, and those of Genes Reunited Limited, a company registered in England under registration no. 4804230 and VAT no. 197 0041 67 ("Genes Reunited", "we" or "us"), in relation to this site and the services offered by Genes Reunited through it (the "Genes Reunited Service"). ?You" or "your" means a registered user of at least 16 years of age. You will be held strictly responsible where you are a parent or guardian for any minor that you allow to access this Service.

Your use of the Genes Reunited Service indicates your acceptance to be legally bound by these terms. If you do not wish to be legally bound by these terms you must discontinue use of this Genes Reunited Service.

We reserve the right to change these terms at our discretion from time to time by advising of such amendments on our www.GenesReunited.co.uk homepage and posting the amended terms and conditions on the Genes Reunited Service. Your continued use of the Genes Reunited Service after changes are posted indicates your acceptance of those changes. If you do not wish to be legally bound by any future amended terms and conditions then do not continue to use or access the Genes Reunited Service.

2.Genes Reunited's Role.

We provide a website where the Genes Reunited Service may be accessed and Members can upload family-related information (which they control). Whether you are a Member or a non-Member of the Genes Reunited Service, you acknowledge that we are not and cannot be responsible for the material provided by Members whether on the Genes Reunited Service or outside of it. In particular, you should be aware that Genes Reunited does not generally pre-screen or monitor the material contributed by Members or ensure that it is genuine.

Genes Reunited is not an internet service provider. In order to avail of the Genes Reunited Service, you must have internet access and all the software and skills required for email and web usage.

3.Privacy policy.

Genes Reunited's Privacy Policy forms part of these terms and conditions. By accepting these terms and conditions and registering as a member of this Service, you give your consent for your personal data to be stored and processed in accordance with our Privacy Policy which you can find by clicking here. Given the global nature of the World Wide Web, any posting, including but not limited to some or all of the family tree details and/or message board postings you input onto the Genes Reunited Service including any which contain personal information is accessible to be viewed by non-Member internet users around the world who access the relevant information by means of searches conducted through internet search engines and the like.

4.Registration.

Visitors to the Genes Reunited Service who do not register to become a Member (as defined in Clause 6 below) affirm that they are legally bound by these terms and conditions each time they access the Genes Reunited Service.

Each registration is for a single user only and such registration may not be sold, transferred or granted in part or in whole to any other person or organization.

By registering with us you agree to provide complete, accurate and current personal data about yourself including your correct name and email address, to which you must have complete access, and any other requested details. You may access your personal data details by going to your ?My Account Details? page. If you change your email address or any of your personal details, then you must inform us of the new email address or of changes to your personal details through your ?My Account Details? page. If you are asked for, and you provide, details of a credit, debit or charge card, you must ensure that (a) you are fully entitled to use that card, and (b) there is available funds sufficient to cover the charges which are deducted from it for this Genes Reunited Service. It is your responsibility to ensure that your personal data is up to date. We are entitled to rely on the information you provide to us.

You understand that you may not (i) select or use a name of another person with the intent to impersonate that person; (ii) use the rights of any person other than yourself without authorization; or (iii) use a name that we, in our sole discretion, deem offensive.

At the end of the Genes Reunited registration form there is the option to also register on the sister site, Friends Reunited. If you tick the box to say yes you would like to also register on Friends Reunited, then you are agreeing to be legally bound by the terms and conditions of the Friends Reunited service when you are using the Friends Reunited service. You can find the Friends Reunited terms and conditions by clicking here

5.Non-refundable Membership Cancellation.

Registered Members beyond the regulatory cooling off period (as defined in Clause 6(B) below) may cancel their registered membership at any time. Should you wish to cancel your membership you may do so on the ?My Account Details? page or by following the ?Help? facilities on this website. Continuous Standard and Gold Members must ensure we are notified at least 24 hours before the subsequent renewal date. You acknowledge and accept that Genes Reunited will not refund in whole or in part paid membership fees except as provided for in Clause 7(ii) below or during the regulatory cooling off period (as defined in Clause 6(B) below).

6.Membership Services

Members are users who register to use the Genes Reunited Service. Membership may be either:

(A) Free Membership or,
(B) Standard Membership. or,
(C) Gold Membership.

(A) Free Members

(i) Core Service Use and Benefits for Free Members. Free Members may:

(a) add all or part of their family tree to the Genes Reunited Service, using the facilities we make available for doing so;
(b) search for individuals against such criteria as may be required by the Genes Reunited Service;
(c) receive emailed messages, which will be sent to the email address contained in ?My Account Details? (which are provided during Registration and may be updated subsequently), notifying them of contacts sent by Standard and Gold Members which can be viewed in the Message Centre on this website.

(ii) Non-Core Service Use and Benefits for Free Members. Free Members may:

(a) upload photographs. If any photograph contains the image of a living person, the Standard Member uploading it must obtain the prior consent of that person to the photograph appearing on the Genes Reunited Service, and must ensure the compliance of each such photograph with all privacy, data protection and other laws (such as the Data Protection Act 1998). Genes Reunited may remove any photograph from the Genes Reunited Service if requested to do so by any affected person or any governmental or regulatory authority.
(b) receive a "family trumps" email from us concerning names added to the Genes Reunited Service that match one or more names contained in your family tree; each email will give the Member an opportunity to opt-out of receiving future ?family trumps? emails;
(c) receive a "Hot Matches Alert", notifying you of up to one hundred individuals appearing in other family trees on the Genes Reunited Service that appear to be reasonably close matches of individuals contained in your family tree; each email will give the Member an opportunity to opt-out of receiving these emails in the future;
(d) receive a "Records Matches" email, notifying you of a census record on Genes Reunited which appears to be a reasonably close match with an individual contained in your family tree; each email will give the Member an opportunity to opt-out of receiving these emails in the future;
(e) opt to receive our emailed Newsletter for the Genes Reunited Service; each Newsletter will give Members an opportunity to opt-out of receiving future Newsletters;
(f) receive Service emails as detailed in the privacy policy.

(B) Standard Members

(i) Core Service Use and Benefits for Standard Members. Standard Members may:

(a) send email messages to Free, Standard and Gold Members;
(b) view the family tree of other Free, Standard and Gold Members where express permission has been given by that other Free, Standard or Gold Member.

(ii) Non-Core Service Use and Benefits for Standard Members. Standard Members may:

(a) post information and data to any message boards which may be available on the Genes Reunited Service.

Standard Membership Fees

If you decide to register to become a Standard Member, and therefore pay our Standard Membership fee, you are agreeing to take the Standard Membership for a subscription period we make available to you following payment of the Standard Membership fee. You have the right to cancel your Standard Membership during the seven-day cooling-off period which is provided under the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 (as amended).

The Standard Membership fee will be as indicated on the payment page on the Genes Reunited Service (and may differ depending on which country you are residing in).

Genes Reunited reserves the right to change the amount of the Standard Membership fee, the period which it covers, and the Core and non-Core Services from time to time. Any such changes shall not affect any existing Standard Membership, and shall only take effect at the renewal of such Standard Membership.

You acknowledge that we are entitled to alter the amount or the basis of the calculation of our fees from time to time, provided that such amount or basis is clearly stated at the time when you agree to take the relevant Genes Reunited Service or prior to any fees being taken.

Standard Membership may be fixed or continuous. If you have a fixed Standard Membership, you will need to renew it every time to continue benefiting from Standard Membership.

A continuous Standard Membership is automatically renewed every time and your credit card will be charged based on the type of subscription you have registered for. Credit card charges will be processed on the renewal date as stated in the notice of renewal sent by email to the holders of continuous Standard Membership. This notice of renewal will be by email and will be sent 14 days before such automatic renewal save where the Standard Membership fee is going to increase in which case the notice of renewal will be sent 28 days before such automatic renewal. Each notice of renewal email will include the date when automatic renewal is scheduled to take place, and the Standard Membership fee applicable, including notice of any increase in the Membership fees where applicable. If you do not wish to proceed with automatic renewal of your continuous Standard Membership, you can cancel entirely or amend your Standard Membership period from continuous Standard Membership to a fixed Standard Membership on the ?My Account Details? page. Any such changes to your Standard Membership period must be completed at least 24 hours before the renewal date referred to in the notice of renewal.

Please note that a continuous Standard Membership may lapse due to our inability to take payment using your selected payment method, such as if you change your credit card. In such event, it is your responsibility to renew your Standard Membership by making payment of such Membership Fees by alternative means.

Please note that if we remove any of our Core Services, Standard Members may be entitled to a refund of part of their Standard Membership fee in accordance with Clause 8(ii) below; but we may remove all or any part of the non-Core Services (such as message boards) from the Genes Reunited Service, either on a temporary or permanent basis, without liability to make a refund to you.

Additional Free Members? and Standard Members? services include the option to:

(a) search 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1891 and 1901 England and Wales census records, the birth, marriage and death indexes for England and Wales from 1837 to 2004 and British World War I and World War II death reocrds for basic family tree information as available for free on the Genes Reunited Service; and
(b) purchase Genes Reunited records credits to view more detailed census and birth, marriage and death indexes results as available for a fee on the Genes Reunited Service. The cost is £5.00 (five pounds) per 50 credits which are valid for 7 (seven) days; any remaining unused credits will expire after 7 days. Your credit balance can be checked at any time in the ?My Account Details? page of this website. Members will be informed before viewing an image how many credits it will cost. Detailed results available shall be as indicated on the Genes Reunited Service and may include but shall not be limited to: full person results for an individual (from the 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1891 and 1901 census); full schedule i.e. full results for anyone living with that individual at the time the census was carried out (from the 1901 census); census image (from the 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1891 and 1901 census); index image (birth, marriages and deaths from 1837 to 1983); full birth, marriage and death details (1984 ? 2002); and person results and index image from the World War I and World War II death lists.

Genes Reunited accepts no responsibility and gives no warranty as to the quality of images or the accuracy of the information available through the England and Wales 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1891 and 1901 census records and the birth, marriage and death indexes for England and Wales from 1837 to 2004. Members are not entitled to a refund or any compensation in whole or in part for such inaccuracies or poor quality of the images made available through the England and Wales 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1891 and 1901 census records and the birth, marriage and death indexes for England and Wales from 1837 to 2004 except if the image selected does not appear on-screen and is unavailable in its entirety.

Members will receive emails relating to their use of the Genes Reunited Service and may opt to receive emails for the promotion of related services available on the site. Each email will give you an opportunity to opt-out of receiving such future emails. Members have the option to amend their opt-in preferences through the ?My Account Details? page.

(C) Gold Members

(i) Core Service Use and Benefits for Gold Members. Gold Members may:

(a) send email messages to both Free, Standard and Gold Members;
(b) view the family tree of other Free, Standard and Gold Members where express permission has been given by that other Free, Standard or Gold Member.

(ii) Non-Core Service Use and Benefits for Gold Members. Gold Members may:

(a) post information and data to any message boards which may be available on the Genes Reunited Service.
(b) Search and view results of records as indicated on the Genes Reunited Service including but not be limited to: full person results for an individual (from the 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1891 and 1901 census); full schedule i.e. full results for anyone living with that individual at the time the census was carried out (from the 1901 census); census image (from the 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1891 and 1901 census); index image (birth, marriages and deaths from 1837 to 1983); and full birth, marriage and death details (1984 ? 2002); person results and index image from the World War I and World War II death lists.

Genes Reunited accepts no responsibility and gives no warranty as to the quality of images or the accuracy of the information available through the England and Wales 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1891 and 1901 census records; the birth, marriage and death indexes for England and Wales from 1837 to 2004 and the World War I and World War II Death lists. Members are not entitled to a refund or any compensation in whole or in part for such inaccuracies or poor quality of the images made available through the England and Wales 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1891 and 1901 census records and the birth, marriage and death indexes for England and Wales from 1837 to 2004.

Gold Membership Fees

If you decide to register to become a Gold Member, and therefore pay our Gold Membership fee, you are agreeing to take the Gold Membership for a subscription period we make available to you following payment of the Gold Membership fee. You have the right to cancel your Gold Membership during the seven-day cooling-off period which is provided under the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 (as amended).

The Gold Membership fee will be as indicated on the payment page on the Genes Reunited Service (and may differ depending on which country you are residing in).

Genes Reunited reserves the right to change the amount of the Gold Membership fee, the period which it covers, and the Core and non-Core Services from time to time. Any such changes shall not affect any existing Gold Membership, and shall only take effect at the renewal of such Gold Membership.

Gold Membership may be fixed or continuous. If you have a fixed Gold Membership, you will need to renew it every time to continue benefiting from Gold Membership.

A continuous Gold Membership is automatically renewed every time and your credit card will be charged based on the type of subscription you have registered for. Credit card charges will be processed on the renewal date as stated in the notice of renewal sent by email to the holders of continuous Gold Membership. This notice of renewal will be by email and will be sent 14 days before such automatic renewal save where the Gold Membership fee is going to increase in which case the notice of renewal will be sent 28 days before such automatic renewal. Each notice of renewal email will include the date when automatic renewal is scheduled to take place, and the Gold Membership fee applicable, including notice of any increase in the Membership fees where applicable. If you do not wish to proceed with automatic renewal of your continuous Gold Membership, you can cancel entirely or amend your Gold Membership period from continuous Gold Membership to a fixed Gold Membership on the ?My Account Details? page. Any such changes to your Gold Membership period must be completed at least 24 hours before the renewal date referred to in the notice of renewal.

Please note that a continuous Gold Membership may lapse due to our inability to take payment using your selected payment method, such as if you change your credit card. In such event, it is your responsibility to renew your Gold Membership by making payment of such Membership Fees by alternative means.

Please note that we may remove all or any part of the Core and non-Core Services (such as message boards) from the Genes Reunited Service, either on a temporary or permanent basis, without liability to make a refund of the Gold Membership Fees to you. We may also remove the option of offering Gold Membership to users of Genes Reunited in the future without notice.

Voucher Special Offer

Our offer of six months? Genes Reunited Standard Membership for £7.50 is only available to first-time UK subscribers and is subject to the terms and conditions on the voucher and below.

The voucher must be redeemed online at www.genesreunited.co.uk between the dates printed on the voucher.

To take advantage of this offer, you will need to subscribe to Genes Reunited Standard UK membership online and agree to the terms and conditions applicable to Standard Members, which are set out in this section above. Please read these carefully.

You will need to enter the nine digit code printed on the voucher when entering your details for this offer to apply.

Standard membership is subject to payment by debit or credit card or Paypal only. Other payment methods will not be accepted. Further payment terms and conditions are contained in the payment terms detailed in this section above.

The offer cannot be used for any renewal or subsequent subscriptions or for any other paid-for service available on Genes Reunited.

The offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other Genes Reunited promotional offer and cannot be exchanged for any cash equivalent.

The offer can only be used once by each individual.

Genes Reunited may withdraw or amend the offer at any time without liability to you. Any such changes will be posted on this website.

Genes Reunited shall not be responsible for any damage, loss or disappointment in connection with this offer, whether related to availability or otherwise.

In the event of any fault, mistake, misunderstanding or dispute concerning the operation of any part of the offer Genes Reunited?s decision shall be final.

7.Additional services.

Genes Reunited or its affiliates may offer new or ancillary services through the Genes Reunited Service from time to time. Your use of those services may be subject to additional terms and conditions, or rules of use, which you must comply with. Any failure by you to comply with a material provision of the terms or rules governing such additional services may amount to a breach of these terms and conditions resulting in termination of our contract with you.

Such new or ancillary services offered from time to time may require the payment of fees either to us or to a nominated third party on terms which will be provided to you at the time.

8.Right to Modify the Genes Reunited Services.

(i) Genes Reunited reserves the right to withdraw or modify aspects of the Genes Reunited Service, or the entirety of it, where we have legal or commercial reasons to do so. There may also be times when the Genes Reunited Service becomes inaccessible as a result of technical difficulties experienced by Genes Reunited or on the Internet; we will, however, use reasonable skill and care to overcome these difficulties where they are within our control. Please note that there will be no refund of fees paid by any member registered to use the Genes Reunited Service, (nor will we have any other liability to you) for withdrawal, modification or unavailability of the Genes Reunited Service, except as provided in Clause 8(ii) below. For security or other reasons, we may require you to change your password or other information which facilitates access to the Genes Reunited Service.
(ii) Fees paid by members will not be rebated or refunded by Genes Reunited, except if we withdraw a Core Service for Standard Members (as specified in Clause 6(B)(i)), or the entirety of the Genes Reunited Service itself; then you may be entitled to a rebate of your Standard Membership fee for the remainder of the period to which that fee relates.
(iii) No part of the contactmembership fee (as described in Clause 6 above) will be rebated to a Standard Member under any circumstances if the Standard Member has sent one or more emails through the Genes Reunited Service during the period to which the Standard Membership fee relates, irrespective of whether the recipient email address is a legitimate address or the recipient replies. No rebate of any part of the Standard Membership fee will be payable under any circumstances, other than as provided in Clause 8(ii) above.

9.Misuse of Genes Reunited Service.

We reserve the right (a) to suspend or terminate any Member's access to the Genes Reunited Service, or parts of it, and/or (b) to remove, or require the Member to remove material posted on the Genes Reunited Service, if the relevant Member or the material posted appears to us, or to a complainant, to be in breach of any provision of these terms and conditions or any applicable laws, regulations or codes of practice. Any person whose access has been suspended or terminated may not re-register for, or re-access, the Genes Reunited Service without our prior consent. In addition, we reserve the right to suspend or terminate any Member's access to the Genes Reunited Service, or parts of it, if that Member is abusive, discriminatory, threatening, or harasses or communicates offensive messages or images to another Member, whether or not through the Genes Reunited Service. Genes Reunited Service is not liable where a Member, whose access to the Genes Reunited Service or parts of it has been suspended or terminated, subsequently regains access to our Genes Reunited Service through no fault of Genes Reunited and/or in breach of these terms and conditions.

10.Relevance.

The Genes Reunited Service is intended to be used by its Members for the purposes referred to in Clause 2 above. Accordingly, Members undertake not to:

(a) include an email address, postal address, phone number, the address of any website, or any other information which is intended to facilitate direct communication, in material which is posted on the Genes Reunited Service. Standard Members and the recipients of their emails can share this information, should they wish, once direct contact has been made;
(b) place material on, or otherwise use, the Genes Reunited Service for any business or commercial purpose; or
(c) use access to the Genes Reunited Service, or information gathered from it, for the sending of unsolicited bulk email (sometimes known as spam).

11.Prohibitions.

You are responsible for any postings and other actions carried out on or through the Genes Reunited Service while your Membership account is logged into the Genes Reunited Service, or through your email address(es). You are responsible for ensuring that no material you post, or which is posted through a machine on which you access the Genes Reunited Service, nor any activity or communication you make in connection with any Genes Reunited Service, will be capable of (a) infringing the intellectual property or other rights of any person or entity, (b) breaching any applicable law, regulation or code of conduct, whether criminal, tortious or otherwise, or (c) appearing to be offensive, threatening, abusive, discriminatory, obscene, pornographic, false, libellous, defamatory, unreliable or misleading..

12.Reporting Abuse.

If you see anything on the Genes Reunited Service which appears to infringe these terms and conditions, please contact us to inform us of it by using the "Report Abuse" function, or by emailing us here. We do not generally monitor material contributed by Members before it is placed on the Genes Reunited Service, and so we are reliant upon users to point out any material which infringe these terms and conditions.

13.Disclaimer and Release.

Genes Reunited has no control over or responsibility for the truth or accuracy of any material available on the Genes Reunited Service, whether provided by Members or others.

Unless stated otherwise, if any third party site is linked from the Genes Reunited Service, this does not mean that we endorse or have any responsibility for the site in question or anything which appears on it. Such sites are outside our control and influence and are not therefore covered by these terms and conditions. If you access other sites from our website, Genes Reunited makes no warranty concerning such third party sites and you agree that any recourse for dissatisfaction or problems with any goods or services obtained through the third party site will be sought from the third party provider and not from Genes Reunited.

You release Genes Reunited, its directors, contractors and employees from all liability (including in relation to disputes with other Members) arising out of your use of a third party site or arising out of or in connection with the material included on the Genes Reunited Service by Members and other third parties.

You should exercise no lesser degree of caution in appraising what you see on the Genes Reunited Service than you do offline.

Even though Members are prohibited from doing so, people may provide information, or otherwise behave, in a way that is unreliable, misleading or even illegal. Further, you should note that people may not necessarily be who they say they are. Please note that, if you make your tree available to other Members, they may take entries from your tree and put them into their tree (even if you do not wish them to). Genes Reunited does not have any liability in this event. However, you must always have permission to include any living individual’s details in your tree.

Your use of the Genes Reunited Service is entirely at your own risk.

14.Intellectual Property.

You acknowledge that all copyright, trade marks, and other intellectual property rights in and relating to the Genes Reunited Service (but excluding any material which is contributed to the Genes Reunited Service by Members) are owned by Genes Reunited. You may not copy, distribute, show in public or create any derivative work from the Genes Reunited Service, or any of the material which is found on the Genes Reunited Service unless you have received our written prior consent.

By submitting or posting any material to the content of the Genes Reunited Service, you:

(a) are representing that you are fully entitled to do so and that the material will not infringe any third party rights, any applicable laws, regulations or code of conduct;
(b) grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, non-terminable licence to use, copy, and distribute that material on the Genes Reunited Service; and
(c) authorise us to modify and amend the relevant material in the course of doing so, and so waive your moral rights to object to any derogatory treatment, or to be identified as the author, of the material in question.

15.Excluded Loss.

We will not be liable to you or any third party for any loss not reasonably foreseeable by us when this agreement commences, for any indirect or consequential loss or damage, or for any loss of data, profit, revenue or business, howsoever caused (whether arising out of any negligence or breach of these terms and conditions or otherwise). Genes Reunited will also not be liable for any failure to perform any of its obligations under these terms and conditions caused by matters beyond its reasonable control.

16.Maximum Liability.

Without limiting the preceding Clause, the aggregate liability of Genes Reunited under these terms and conditions will not under any circumstances exceed an amount equal to (a) the Standard Membership fee in the case of a Standard Member or (b) the Gold Membership fee in the case of a Gold Member or (if greater) (c) the sums paid by you to us under these terms and conditions during the period prior to the date when liability arises.

17.Non-excluded Liabilities.

Nothing in these terms and conditions limits Genes Reunited's liability for death or personal injury resulting from our negligence, or any other liability which may not by law be excluded. Any statutory rights you may have as a consumer remain unaffected.

18.Indemnity.

You agree to indemnify us against all liabilities, claims and expenses that may arise from any breach of these terms and conditions by you or through a machine on which you access the Genes Reunited Service.

19.Assignment.

We reserve the right to assign this agreement, and to assign or subcontract any or all of our rights and obligations under this agreement. You may not without the written consent of Genes Reunited assign or dispose of this agreement.

20.Entire Agreement.

21.Third Party Rights.

A person who is not a party to this agreement has no right under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to rely upon or enforce any term of this agreement.

22.Severability.

In the event that any term of this agreement is held to be invalid or unenforceable by judicial decree or decision, the remainder of this agreement shall remain valid and enforceable.

23.Law.

These terms and conditions shall be governed by and interpreted and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales.

24.Keeping this Agreement.

We don't separately file the individual agreements entered into by members when they register for the Genes Reunited Service. You can access it at www.GenesReunited.co.uk. Please make a durable copy of these terms and conditions by printing and/or saving a downloaded copy on your own computer.

25.Complaints.

Complaints may be reported to us through our ‘contact us’ link on this website or by post at Unit 2, Oxted Chambers, 185-187 Station Road East, Oxted, Surrey RH8 0QE. We will reply to all complaints within 4 working days.

26.Contact.

You can contact us by post at Unit 2, Oxted Chambers, 185-187 Station Road East, Oxted, Surrey RH8 0QE. Please do not send cheques to this address. If you wish to pay by cheque please make your cheque payable to Genes Reunited.co.uk and send it to PO Box 38, WEST WICKHAM, BR4 9WA. Please make sure you include your email address with all correspondence.