Frequently Asked Questions

 


How secure is my account and content?

You have complete control and ownership of your content. You can choose who can view your content with one of five audiences: Private, Only Family, Only Friends, Family and Friends, or the Public. Any critical information you may provide when purchasing legacy programs or products, such as would appear on your credit card, is encrypted and not stored on our servers. Also, we do not share your confidential information with anyone. To learn more please read our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.


How do you sustain this website and library?

We are supported by the generosity of sponsors and clients, and through sales of our legacy educational programs, tools and resources. We are often asked by members how they can support the website on a personal level. We plan to make this available in the very near future.
 

With financial support from our sponsors and a growing client and member base, we can continue to deliver on our promise to keep the website free, while sustaining the financial well-being of the Living Legacy Project and it's platform. Thank you!!

 

Are you a non-profit or for-profit organization?

We are a socially-conscious for-profit entity, setting a new model for leveraging the collective efforts of government, non-profits and businesses to make a significant positive impact on humanity. With the support of sponsors and clients, we can offer our platform at no cost to non-profits, businesses, and individuals, while sharing profits through our affiliate program. Everyone wins, especially families!

 

How do my heirs continue to view or access my stories after I'm gone?

We encourage our members to get their "digital affairs" in order. To that end, you should make sure that your trusted successors have the login email and password to access to your account. This information should also be placed in your living will or estate plan.

We provide a Beneficiary page, found in your profile account settings, so that when a member passes away we can be contacted by the beneficiary or trustee and make arrangements for the transfer of access with the proper documentation. This information is kept totally private and not shared in any way. 

If I need help building my legacy, who do I contact?

Legacy Stories offers several help options including Live Chat, support tickets or phone support at 888-405-9840. For legacy services outside our website such as photo scanning, genealogical research, memoir writing, photo organizing, recording oral history, etc., you have access to our global network of Legacy Concierge Providers. Simply search the Legacy Concierge Directory or call us and we'll guide you in the right direction.

 

Who owns the stories I publish in Legacy Stories?

Simply put, you do. Our members always have complete control and ownership over the content they add or publish in Legacy Stories. Members who publish their content for public consumption grant non-exclusive publishing and promotional rights to Legacy Stories. We follow very strict Intellectual Property rules, and prohibit anyone from posting content that they legally do not have a right to.

Members indemnify Legacy Stories from any legal claims or liability. Please refer to our privacy policy for a more detailed explanation. Legacy Stories maintains the highest standards when complying with copyright laws.
 

What happens to my content if it goes dormant?

If no activity has been registered in a member's profile for 24 months, we reserve the right to disable the profile and place all the member's content into deep storage. Upon request to re-activate the profile, it could take up to 48 hours to restore everything back to its original form.

 

Does Legacy Stories share or sell my information?

No. We believe in the right of privacy for our members and will not sell, rent or otherwise share our members’ information or content with any third party. There can be situations wherein our members may share such information themselves with other members or vendors through the site, but in those situations we do not accept any liability for their decisions to do so. 

If, at any time, a member is solicited by another member or outside party, we ask to be notified immediately. We do not allow members to spam or annoy other members and will take swift action when alerted to the offending action. Legacy Stories is policed by its members as well as our staff. Please notify us if you find inappropriate content or activity.

 

Can I create one account for husband and wife or family?

Each Legacy Stories account is personal. Your childhood and ancestor stories will be different than your spouse’s, for example. There are other reasons each family member should have an individual account. If say the wife wishes to keep a private diary to be released later or upon her death, the entire family would have access to her password and account if it was shared. Lastly, in cases where there is family conflict such as divorce or separation, their personal content cannot be split apart if all is in a single account.

To that end, we recommend creating unique free accounts for each family member, then send a "Friend" or "Family" invitation to people you want to join either of those profile networks. Once accepted, a thumbnail of the invitee's profile photo will appear in your profile and visa versa, making it convenient to share stories, collaborate and interact.
 

How do I set up an account on behalf of another loved one?

Many people enjoy building a legacy portfolio for a parent, veteran or loved ones. Each will need his/her own Legacy Stories account. Some elders may not be adept at computers or the internet, which is why you may be helping in the first place. In that case, you’ll need to

•    create a unique email account at Gmail, Yahoo or other provider.
•    write down the email and password so you, as their trustee, don’t forget it.
•    register the member into Legacy Stories using the email and password you created
•    search for your own profile and click on Add as a Friend or Add as Family.

You’ll need to login with your loved one’s email and password in order to post stories or upload content for them.
 

What is your refund policy?

For most people the free Legacy Stories Portfolio account is more than sufficient for general use. However, when purchasing upgrades or other Legacy Stories products, refunds are credited up to 3 days after purchase. To cancel your purchase amd receive a refund within 3 days, simply contact us via the Support link in the footer and we’ll take care if it for you immediately.
 

What happens if the server crashes?

Legacy Stories content is stored on multiple servers on the Amazon Cloud, the world's largest and most secure. Should we suffer a crash, once the issue is resolved, all data should be restored to the exact condition as it appeared up to 24 hours earlier.

You should be aware that there is no guarantee your content will be restored. We can only reply on Amazon's ability to restore data. The most popular websites in the world share the same risks with the Amazon cloud, or with any cloud provider.

 

Can I opt out of the Legacy Stories newsletter?

Yes. Simply click on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the newsletter. However, newsletters are different than our system communications. We highly encourage you to receive these notices because they alert you when someone has commented on a story or photo, asks to join your family or friend network, invites you to join their group and other inter-member communications. If you still wish to opt out of those system notices, simply click on My Desk>Account>Preferences.
 

What happens if your website goes out of business?

Our growing number of patrons and sponsors help sustain the website. In the unlikely event our website must close, you will be notified at least 30 days in advance, during which time you can download your content. 

Keep in mind that much of your content originates from your own computer, such as photo or audio uploads. Or, in the case of story compositions, you may have copied and pasted from a Word document to the story editor. So you almost always have the original in hand.

As a rule, we highly recommend having your content stored in three different locations to protect against the unexpected. You have one backup here in our archive, another on your content originating device, and should have a third backup on a DVD or thumb drive. Your legacy stories are too valuable to completely rely on any one of these three options alone. Triple redundancy is the safest option.

We cannot predict the future of the internet. However, the best minds in the industry are feverishly working on ways to preserve important data should something happen to the provider. Until a solution is found, take advantage of the opportunity to build a legacy portfolio to share your legacy stories today, and make sure you have backups for future generations. It's the only way to be sure!