Broker profile
FamilyTreeNow
A free site that markets itself as a genealogy resource but functions as a full people-search broker, publishing names, ages, addresses, phones, and relatives including children's names with no sign-in required. The operating entity is Family Tree Now LLC, started July 13, 2014, owned by Sacramento-area entrepreneur Dustin Weirich (previously DateHookUp.com). Compliance Manager Julian Burgess is also a named principal at SmartBackgroundChecks and FastBackgroundCheck. BBB rates it B-; a Jan 2017 Fortune piece said the children's-name exposure makes stalking easy.
FamilyTreeNow overview
At a glance
- Data published
- Extensive
- Re-listing frequency
- Recurring
- Complaint record
- Pattern of complaints
- Opt-out friction
- Moderate
- Operator opacity
- Mostly disclosed
- Prior data incidents
- None documented
Each broker is scored 1 to 4 across the six dimensions above; higher means more exposure, and the overall gauge is their average.
What each dimension means
- Data published: how much and how sensitive the personal data they put out.
- Re-listing frequency: how quickly you reappear after opting out.
- Complaint record: volume and pattern of complaints across BBB, Trustpilot, and Sitejabber; no findable review presence counts against the broker.
- Opt-out friction: how hard the removal process is to complete.
- Operator opacity: how hidden the operating company and its principals are.
- Prior data incidents: history of breaches or leaks of the data they hold.
- Category
Genealogy framing · people-search functionality
- Operating entity
Family Tree Now LLC
- Business start
Jul 13, 2014
- CEO
Dustin Weirich
- Compliance Manager
Julian Burgess
- BBB-listed address
Roseville, CA
- BBB rating
B-
- Notable press
Jan 2017 Fortune + Stanford CIS
- FCRA covered?
No
Background
Background
FamilyTreeNow launched in July 2014 as a free genealogy site. Functionally it operates like the other people-search brokers in this directory. Type a name and city/state into the homepage search and you get a list of matching individuals, click through and you see addresses, phone numbers, relatives, and associates - all without creating an account. The genealogy framing is the marketing veneer; the data product underneath is the same public-records aggregation everyone else in the category runs.
- Operating entity
Family Tree Now LLC
- Business start
Jul 13, 2014
- CEO / owner
Dustin Weirich
- Previous Weirich venture
DateHookUp.com
- Same-address sister
Blade Fire Studios
- Compliance Manager
Julian Burgess
The BBB lists the company at 1420 E Roseville Pkwy Ste 140-325, Roseville, CA 95661-3078. The "Ste 140-325" pattern is a private-mailbox suite-within-a- suite, not a normal office number - the type of address used by mail-receiving services rather than operational offices. Dustin Weirich, the named CEO, is a Sacramento-area entrepreneur who previously founded DateHookUp.com (sold to Match.com in 2012) and runs Blade Fire Studios out of the same Roseville address. Per California Secretary of State records he has been listed as Manager of FamilyTreeNow since a May 2015 filing.
The other named principal on the BBB filing is Julian Burgess, listed as Compliance Manager. That's the same Julian Burgess who appears as Vice President / General Manager on the BBB filing for SmartBackgroundChecks.com (Atlanta, GA) and as Owner / Manager on the BBB filing for FastBackgroundCheck.com (Boulder, CO). Across three publicly verifiable BBB filings, Burgess is the named principal at three separately-branded data-broker entities in three different US cities. This isn't ownership equivalence between the brokers - just one named individual showing up as the principal-on-paper across multiple distinct broker operations.
The 2017 Fortune / Stanford CIS coverage made FamilyTreeNow a category cautionary tale. An Alabama woman named Anna Britain raised awareness on Twitter in January 2017 after discovering her profile (and her children's names) on the site; the Fortune piece by Jeff John Roberts followed days later, and Stanford CIS fellow Danielle Citron's Atlantic piece "How FamilyTreeNow Makes Stalking Easy" landed January 17, 2017. The publicity drove a wave of opt-out submissions large enough to overwhelm the site temporarily. The original sources are Jeff John Roberts' Fortune piece and Danielle Citron's Atlantic piece "How FamilyTreeNow Makes Stalking Easy" (January 17, 2017).
Not a Consumer Reporting Agency. FamilyTreeNow explicitly disclaims CRA status, so its data cannot legally be used for employment, tenant, or credit screening - same "not a CRA" posture as SmartBackgroundChecks. The disclaim limits how third parties may legally consume the data; it doesn't reduce the privacy harm of the information being publicly published in the first place.
Data Published
Data types
Sensitive: elevated identity-theft, doxxing, or safety riskStandard public-record field
- Full names, including aliases and prior names
- Age and approximate date of birthSensitive
- Current and previous home addresses with date ranges of residenceSensitive
- Phone numbers
- Email addresses (sometimes)
- Names of relatives - including children (the children's-name exposure was the headline finding in the Jan 2017 Fortune coverage)Sensitive
- Names of known associates and likely household membersSensitive
- Reverse lookups: name, address, phone
Data sources: US public records, commercial data aggregators, and bulk-loaded public-record feeds. FamilyTreeNow does not accept user submissions in the way a real genealogy crowd-sourced site (like FamilySearch or WikiTree) does - the genealogy framing is product packaging, not a participatory community model.
Children's names visible by default. Unlike many people-search brokers that suppress minor children from public profiles, FamilyTreeNow's "Family Tree" view has historically displayed children's names alongside the parent profile. The Fortune piece noted this "may also violate a law that protects kids' privacy." This is the specific data exposure that drove the 2017 viral opt-out wave.
Contact
Contacts & links
- Operating entity
Family Tree Now LLC
- BBB-listed address
1420 E Roseville Pkwy Ste 140-325 Roseville, CA 95661-3078
- BBB-listed phone
- CA Data Broker registry
Family Tree Now, LLC · registry address: Los Angeles, CA (the BBB lists Roseville) · 2024: 631 requests to delete, all complied in whole, one-day median - cppa.ca.gov/data_broker_registry/
- Opt-out / privacy request page
- Privacy policy
- Terms of service
Network
Sister brands
FamilyTreeNow doesn't publish a corporate family-tree (pun available but unused), but two distinct overlap patterns surface in public records.
Weirich-operated properties at the same Roseville address:
Burgess-named-principal data-broker entities (per separate BBB filings):
The two patterns now connect through PeopleSearchNow - the Weirich Roseville-property cluster (his serial-entrepreneur portfolio) and the Burgess multi-broker named-principal pattern are linked at PeopleSearchNow's BBB filing, which names both Burgess (Company Contact) and Robert Miller (CEO) - the same Robert Miller who anchors the Mississippi Tornado Alley LLC sibling brands (FastPeopleSearch + USPhoneBook + PeopleSearchNow). All documented through the public BBB record; neither implies a formal corporate parent-subsidiary tie, just overlapping named-principal listings.
Related broker network: Julian Burgess multi-broker network
FamilyTreeNow is one of several brands all named Julian Burgess as a principal (Compliance Manager, General Manager, Operations Assistant) on their respective BBB filings, in different US cities. Each brand maintains a separate opt-out database. Opting out of FamilyTreeNow does not automatically remove you from the sister brands listed below; each requires its own opt-out request.
Reputation
Trust signals
Third-party reputation signals on FamilyTreeNow cluster toward the negative end across BBB, Trustpilot, Sitejabber, and PissedConsumer. The BBB's B- rating is actually the most favorable third-party reading; consumer-review platforms put the score closer to 1-2 out of 5 with recurring complaints about opt-out failures and unhelpful customer support.
Personal information (name, full address, phone, relatives, children's names) published without consent
Opt-out requests submitted but record reappears or is never removed
Multi-record listings requiring separate opt-out per record (no bulk-remove option)
Voice system on the toll-free number reportedly doesn't route to a human
Privacy concerns specific to children's-name exposure (the 2017 Fortune-era complaint)
Common complaint themes (BBB customer reviews + Trustpilot + Sitejabber + PissedConsumer):
Litigation
Litigation history
We have not located a Federal Trade Commission enforcement action, state Attorney General consent decree, California Privacy Protection Agency Delete Act settlement, or named class action specifically captioned against FamilyTreeNow.com, Family Tree Now LLC, or Dustin Weirich as of the last-updated date below. The 2017 viral coverage generated discussion of class-action posture in consumer forums but no filed case appears to have materialized.
One specific structural factor: FamilyTreeNow's Terms of Service mandate binding arbitration and prohibit class-action suits. That's a standard arbitration clause but it does shape the litigation surface available to aggrieved consumers - direct class action against the operating entity is contractually foreclosed for users who accepted the terms.
FAQ
Q & A
Is FamilyTreeNow a data broker?
Yes. FamilyTreeNow markets itself as a genealogy site but functions as a full people-search broker. Profiles show names, ages, current and previous addresses, phones, possible relatives including children's names, and associates, with no sign-in required. The January 2017 Fortune and Stanford CIS/Atlantic coverage (How FamilyTreeNow Makes Stalking Easy) made it a category cautionary tale.
Who owns FamilyTreeNow?
FamilyTreeNow.com is operated by Family Tree Now LLC, business start date July 13, 2014. CEO and owner is Dustin Weirich, a Sacramento-area entrepreneur who previously founded DateHookUp.com (sold to Match.com in 2012) and runs Blade Fire Studios from the same Roseville, CA address. The named Compliance Manager on the BBB filing is Julian Burgess, also principal at SmartBackgroundChecks, FastBackgroundCheck, PeopleSearchNow, SearchPeopleFree, and CyberBackgroundChecks.
What information does FamilyTreeNow publish?
FamilyTreeNow publishes full names with aliases and prior names, age and approximate date of birth, current and previous home addresses with date ranges of residence, phone numbers, email addresses sometimes, names of relatives including children (the headline 2017 Fortune finding), names of known associates and likely household members, and reverse lookups for name, address, and phone.
Can I remove myself from FamilyTreeNow?
Yes. The opt-out page is at familytreenow.com/optout. Multi-record listings require a separate opt-out per record (no bulk-remove option). Reviewers report the BBB-listed toll-free number +1 (877) 838-4889 does not route to a human, so the web form is the only practical channel. The terms mandate binding arbitration and prohibit class-action suits. See our FamilyTreeNow removal guide for step-by-step instructions.
How long does FamilyTreeNow take to remove information?
FamilyTreeNow does not publish a specific SLA. User reports describe successful removals within hours to days when the form works, but profiles frequently reappear weeks or months later as new public records are indexed. Multi-record opt-outs require repeating the flow per record.
Is FamilyTreeNow covered by FCRA?
No. FamilyTreeNow explicitly disclaims Consumer Reporting Agency status, so its data legally cannot be used for FCRA-covered decisions like employment, tenant, or credit screening. No FTC enforcement, state AG consent decree, or named class action has materialized against FamilyTreeNow.com, Family Tree Now LLC, or Dustin Weirich despite the 2017 viral coverage.
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May 22, 2026