Emortal is a subscription service that helps biological or chosen families organize, share and protect their digital memories for future generations.
Digital memories includes photos and videos, and are collectively referred to as content.
An Emortal basic subscription costs £4.99 per month and provides 100GB storage and 10 licenses.
A Subscriber invites up to 9 other people with whom they want to share memories (that’s 10 in total, including you), and together they are members of a family group.
How do family groups work?
Emortal's definition of 'family' is a group of people who love and trust each other by virtue of being bound together over time by mutual consent and/or birth, adoption or placement.
The Subscriber is the person who pays for the family group's subscription and is the only person who can invite people into the family group.
How do I join or start a family group?
If someone would like you to join their family group, you will get an email or text message with an invitation. Follow the instructions to set up your Emortal account, download the Emortal app and join the family group.
If you wish to start your own family group, take out a new subscription and follow the instructions to invite others to become family group members.
To join a family group, you must:
- be aged 13 or older, or have your parent or legal guardian’s permission to use the Emortal service (please refer to Emortal's Terms of Service)
- be based in a country that is supported by Emortal Ltd.
- have activated an Emortal account and downloaded the Emortal app
- not be a member of another family group
- not have switched family groups in the last 12 months
Members of different family groups can also connect with each other on a member-to-member basis. Upon acceptance of an invitation, members from different family groups can share content with each other. Important: this action does not use up a license.
Upon acceptance of a member-to-member invitation, all members of both family groups become discoverable to each other. Family group members can choose to connect with any member of the new family group on an individual basis.
There is no limit on the number of member-to-member connections you can make with different family groups.
How does sharing work?
All members of a family group are automatically connected to share posts with each other.
For Share, Albums, Lifeline and Time Capsules, a member can select who receives such content by selecting from their connections:
- family group members can be selected individually
- family group members can also be selected as a single group
- other member-to-member connections are selected individually
When an Album is shared, recipients see the content as a snapshot in time. Subsequent additions to the Album by its owner will not be visible. Find out why here.
A connection may share content with you, but also with someone you are not directly connected with. Should this individual comment on the content, their name, profile picture and comment will be visible to you. You will be able to see who this person is connected to by clicking on the 'shared with' button.
Can I leave or switch family groups?
When leaving a family group to start or join a new family group, a member's account, Safe, and all curated content (Lifeline, Albums and Time Capsules) moves with them by default, freeing up storage space on the original subscription and using up space on the new subscription. You will not be able to join a new family group if your content takes their total storage over the storage limit of their current subscription plan.
Connections with the original family group automatically migrate to become member-to-member connections but can subsequently be revoked by the account holder on an individual basis should they choose.
Alternatively, a member can choose to delete all their content.
An account holder can only switch family groups once every 12 months, meaning they may need to wait up to 12 months before leaving their family group to join another.
Leaving a family group retires a license from the subscription. Find out why here.
What happens when my family group runs out of storage space?
If a family group runs out of space, all family group member's content will stay safe, but they won't be able to store new things.
To create additional storage space, family group members can delete content or leave the family group to start a new one. If starting a new family group, any two members could then connect, making all members of the two families discoverable for more member-to-member connections to be made.
Storage plan upgrades will be available soon.
What happens when a family group member dies?
To notify us when a family group member dies, please contact the Life Support team to be guided through the death registration process.
When a family group member dies, their account is memorialized and their Digital Heirs share custody of all the digital assets held in the deceased's Emortal account. As custodians, Digital Heirs can see and share the original owner's content with other family members and extended family and friends, be they existing or new connections (coming soon).
Upon accepting an invitation to join a family group, all current and future family group members are automatically designated as Digital Heirs to each other's digital assets and, by default, remain so even when members switch family groups. This reflects Emortal's duty of care to ensure your digital assets pass to your immediate family.
Digital Heir status of any original family group member can be revoked or reinstated at any time by the account holder. To change your status as a Digital Heir, or the status of a Digital Heir associated with your own account, please contact the Life Support team. The family member concerned will be notified when such changes are made.
Whilst an account holder has full control over who is a Digital Heir within their original family group, it is not possible to appoint Digital Heirs beyond this group. Find out why here.
In the event that an account holder becomes the sole remaining member of a family group and at no point has an original group family member left to start a new family group (in other words, there are no Digital Heirs associated with the account holder), the Emortal Digital Legacy Fund will become custodian of the account holder's account and will maintain
the content until such time as it is claimed by an as-yet unknown heir up to a maximum of 10 years, after which time all content will be deleted.
When a Digital Heir becomes a custodian, the memorialized account they inherit does not count towards the storage allowance as determined by their subscription plan.
How does a Digital Heir preserve their loved one's memory? (coming soon)
Memorialized accounts appear in a Digital Heir's family as a connection beneath their member-to-member connections. The connection carries the original account holder's name and profile picture. Tapping opens the original account, providing access to Safe, Albums, Lifeline and Time Capsule in the usual way. A Digital Heir can share content with existing connections and add new connections, but they cannot add or delete content, or change the account profile picture. When they share, content will appear as [their name] remembering [the original account holder's name].
What happens when family groups fall out?
Important: once an invitation is accepted, it is not possible for the Subscriber or any other family group member to cancel a license in order to forcibly remove a family member from a family group. Learn more about why this is the case and our duty of care to all account holders here.
Can we change the person who pays for our Emortal subscription?
A family group can change the Subscriber at any time by transferring the subscription to another family group member who is aged 18 or older.
What happens if our family group misses a subscription payment?
If a monthly subscription payment is missed for any reason, the subscriber will be notified immediately upon the subscription falling into arrears.
If a second consecutive monthly subscription payment is missed for any reason, the subscriber and all Family Group members will be notified.
If a third consecutive monthly subscription payment is missed, the family group is locked and content cannot be accessed until the subscription is renewed by the original subscriber or the subscription is taken over by an existing member of the family group.
The first family member to successfully set up payment details and bring the subscription up to date will automatically become the new Subscriber for the family group, whereby the payment and subscription terms as described in our Terms of Service apply.
If a family group remains in arrears for more than 120 days without renewal of the subscription, the subscription will be deactivated and all content of all family group members will be permanently deleted after a further 60 days. Find out more about Emortal's deletion grace period in our duty of care section here.
How does Emortal make money?
Emortal is a subscription service. We make enough money from account holder subscriptions to pay for the provision of our service, as well as investment into our Digital Legacy Fund. The Emortal Digital Legacy Fund (EDLF) generates enough return to pay for the future cost of preserving a family's content for generations to come.
Which file types does Emortal support?
- Video: MP4/MPEG4 (mp4), AVI Video (avi), M4V (m4v), Quicktime Video (mov, moov), OGV Video (ogv), WMV Video (wmv), MPEG Video (mpeg, mpg, mpe, mts, m2ts, m2t)
- Images: Tiff Image (tif, tiff), GIF image (gif), Bitmap Image (bmp), JPEG Image (jpeg, jpg)
- Audio: (coming soon)
Which browsers does Emortal support?
Emortal supports Internet Explorer versions 9, 10 and 11, Chrome, and Safari 6.1 and above. Other browsers may work but are not officially supported, and as such some features may not work properly.
How can I contact Emortal?
You can contact our Life Support Team using this link.
You can also contact us via the 'Help' section on the home screen of the app.
We usually respond within 24 hours, often much sooner.
Why won't my file upload?
A file can fail to process once it's been uploaded for many reasons, the most common of which is that the file is corrupted, or more rarely it is a format that we cannot transcode.
To check that a file isn't corrupted, simply try opening it. If you can view your content without any issues, then try uploading again make sure you have a stable connection.
If the problem persists, it might be a format that Emortal doesn't support.
For more information on the file formats that we do support, see the FAQ titled: Which file types does Emortal support?
Which operating systems does Emortal support?
Emortal supports the following operating systems:
Apple iOS devices;
Emortal performs best on iOS 13, 14 and 15.
It's also compatible with some earlier releases but you may experience some operating issues.
Google Android devices;
Emortal performs best on Android 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12.
It's also compatible with some earlier releases but you may experience some operating issues.
I've forgotten my password and can't log into my account.
If you've forgotten the password to your Emortal account follow these simple steps to reset it:
1). Open the Emortal app.
2). Tap "Sign in".
3). Tap "I forgot password" (this appears at the bottom of the screen above the keyboard).
4). Enter your email address.
5). Go to your email for that account, and find the email titled "Reset your Emortal password".
6). Click the blue "Reset your password" button within the email.
7). This opens up a new page where you can input your new password, confirm it underneath and then press the "Submit" button.
8). You have now reset your password and can sign in to Emortal.
I've just joined an Emortal family group but can't log in.
You will not be able to log in if you have just created your account and it hasn’t been verified, if this is the case, simply wait for the verification email to arrive.
If it has been longer than 10 minutes check your junk mail box as it might have ended up there.
If you still cannot log into your account contact our Life Support team here and provide as much information as possible using the form.
I have been invited to join Emortal by a family member. What do I do next?
To get started, click the link they sent you and use the secret code to register for your Emortal account.
Next, you need to validate your email address, and then you can download and login to your account. You will immediately be connected to the person who invited you.
Do other family members I invite get access to the full Emortal feature set?
Absolutely! The subscriber can invite up to 9 other family members to join the family group.
They will all have access to the full set of Emortal features including Safe, Share, Albums, Lifeline and Time Capsule.
How do you ensure my privacy in Emortal?
Privacy is one of our core values, so your family matters will remain personal and private within Emortal.
You’ll have complete control over what content you choose to keep private, or share with your family and friends.
We will maintain the privacy of your memories at the privacy level you choose, now and in the future, so you are always in control of who sees what.
There will never be any ads or gimmicks in Emortal. We are committed to providing an ‘advertising-free’ experience and one where your private information will never be monitored, sold to or shared with third-parties.
The information we collect about you and how you use our services is used solely to enhance the services we offer, provide better customer support, and complete your requests and transactions.
As an organization, Emortal is committed to meeting and upholding the principles of the GDPR.
Who owns my content in Emortal?
Your content remains yours during your lifetime, which means that you retain all intellectual property and moral rights that you have in your content.
This applies not only to content you upload to the Service, but also to comments you write.
Upon your death, the intellectual property rights and moral rights associated with your content pass to your Digital Heirs so that your family legacy is preserved and privacy maintained across generations.
To learn more about how Digital Heirs work, read the article called 'How Emortal Works' here
What features does Emortal have?
Emortal has five core product features;
Safe - Preserve memories that matter for generations to come.
Share - Enjoy your most precious family memories together privately.
Albums - Remembering the good times together for all time.
Lifeline - Tell your life story in your words, pictures and videos.
Time Capsule - Send messages into the future and receive messages from the past.
Additional features are also in development.
What does Emortal cost?
An Emortal subscription costs £4.99 per month and provides a total of 100GB storage across 10 accounts (which is equivalent to just £0.49p per user per month).
A subscriber invites up to 9 other people with whom they want to share memories with and they form an Emortal family group.
How do I change the Family Group subscriber?
Unlike other app store subscription services, it is possible to change the person who pays for your Emortal Family Group subscription to someone else in your family group, who will pay the subscription from then on. To nominate a new subscriber, contact Emortal Life Support and use the form provided.
I am the family group subscriber and want to cancel my subscription
As the subscriber for your family group, it is important to remember that cancelling your subscription cancels the Emortal service for everyone in your family. Please visit Emortal Life Support to nominate a new subscriber before cancelling your subscription.
Your subscription will auto-renew unless cancelled at least 24-hours before the end of the current period.
Depending on the service you used to purchase the subscription (Android, or iPhone) there will be slightly different ways to cancel any active and renewing subscriptions. You'll need to use the same service you used to activate your subscription to cancel.
For subscriptions purchased using the Emortal App for Android, your payment and any recurring payments are handled by Google Play. To manage your Google Play subscriptions, click here. Or, from the app, open your Account settings from the gear icon and you will see your subscription status, next payment date and an option to cancel.
For subscriptions purchased using the Emortal App for iPhone, your payment and any recurring payments are handled by iTunes. To manage your subscription through iTunes, click here. Or, from the app, open your Account settings from the gear icon and you will see your subscription status, next payment date and an option to cancel.
Once you have cancelled your subscription, you will see a warning sign alongside your subscription expiry date, and an option to renew.
According to Emortal's Terms of Service, you may be entitled to receive a full refund within thirty (30) days of purchase. Beyond that time frame, an Emortal subscription is typically non-refundable.
How much storage am I using?
We will notify the subscriber when the family group has used 80% of the storage space available under the current subscription plan. A dashboard showing total storage used by each family group member and by content type will be made available soon.
Why is my date of birth required to use Emortal?
We need to collect this information to confirm that an account holder is old enough to use Emortal, as well as enhance the protection we can provide to our younger account holders. To learn more about why we collect information and how we use it, please visit our Privacy Policy.
Can I change my email address?
Your email address is used to manage family groups and member-to-member connections you make with the Emortal app. Connections may need to know it to change family groups, or your family group subscriber, for example, and they can see it by tapping on your profile pic in the 'Family' tab.
To change the email address associated with your Emortal account, please contact our Life Support Team.
I received a notification saying that my Emortal password or email address has been updated, but I didn’t make any changes.
See whether you can log in to Emortal with your email address and password. If you cannot log in, please reset your password.
If your email address has been changed, you will not be able to reset your password. In this case, please contact our Life Support Team.
If you can still log in, please contact Life Support to report the email.
If you used this email and password combination on other sites, we recommend that you change those passwords as well. It's a good idea to use a password manager and create unique, strong passwords.
I received an email from Emortal titled “Important - Unauthorized Emortal Account Activity”
This means there has been unauthorized access to your Emortal account related to a third party gaining access to your login credentials outside of Emortal.
In order to safeguard your account security, please reset your Emortal password.
If your email address has been changed, you will not be able to reset your password. In this case, please contact Life Support.
If you used this email and password combination on other sites, we recommend that you change those passwords as well. It's a good idea to use a password manager and create unique, strong passwords.
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