Many times I receive messages from people who write, "I sent my genealogy information to person X, and now it is published all over the Internet! How can I stop that?
The quick answer is, "You cannot."
Most genealogists are willing to help others and to share data. You may share your data with one other person. He or she may share that data with another person. Some, motivated by the most charitable of intentions, will share all the data they have ever received with everyone else by publishing it on the Internet. Such a willingness to share is rooted deep in human nature.
The complaints against putting information on the Internet are the same as those expressed 50 years ago by people who found personal family information in published books and articles. The basic "problem" hasn't changed, but the speed and ease of disseminating information have improved.
One can argue about copyrights. There are contradictory views: facts cannot be copyrighted and therefore can be shared with anyone. However, the compilation of a group of facts arguably is subject to copyright. (I have greatly oversimplified these opposing views.) Whichever interpretation you prefer, I doubt if you can find a lawyer willing to take such a copyright case to court. Your odds of ever winning the case in court are somewhere between slim to nonexistent. After all, most judges spend their time dealing with much more serious issues than the claims that great-great-grandma was born in 1868. At the same time, you can spend a lot of money before exhausting the legal possibilities.
If you have knowledge of something that you do not want made public, don't tell anyone! This applies to genealogical information and to anything else you wish to keep secret. In today's instant access world, never put any private information into any electronic format, not even e-mail. The minute the information is passed electronically, for all practical purposes, it is now public information, whether you intended it or not.
The recipient of email information is very likely to pass that information to others who have an interest, and each of those people is likely to repeat the process. With the popularity of the Internet, it is almost certain that, within about three or four "generations" of communication, someone will publicly post that information, having no clue that you intended it to be a secret when you divulged it to your original recipient.
Copyrights or no copyrights, any information you give to someone else probably will make its way to a database on the Web sooner or later. Let the sender beware.
Somehow the "family" nature of genealogy is lost on some who do research. They claim that they have spent large amounts of money to gather there information, but then they hoard their data and information to the exclusion. The only time the information becomes available is after they are dead. Sadly the world loses the benefit of their scholarship (or lack thereof) in the meantime. Information placed on the web is not to insult the giver, or to plagiarize their information, but at least in most cases is to honor the family that they have title to by virtue of their birth. Whether collateral or direct, if we believe in Adam as our first father, then we are ALL related, and therefore ALL family.
I believe that there was skeletons lurking in every closet, some darker than others... that's life. Hiding the fact that you have had a divorce, a child out of wedlock, etc etc., only adds spice to the information assembled. Murder, thieves, and rapists were people too, and like it or not we are related to them all. Search far enough, and your German ancestor may have served with Adolph Hitler. Or you may find out our blended with native American, and Negro progenitors. Why be ashamed?
Even Adam kept a Book of Remembrance from which the record of his family was maintained and handed down through the generations. Lost to the world at this time, it may one day be discovered and our links to each other will be forged more surely than they are now. (PGP Moses 6:5)
Advances in technology will soon make all our lives an open book, we might as well get use to the spot light. If you are doing something wrong you do not want reported in the "World Genealogical Press", then stop doings things that would embarrass you, and put on your best smile, and let the record be written. It is anyhow!
I've seen Dick Eastman discuss ideas about a World Family Tree type database. Something that is trying to take place on Places like Ancestry.com where even the 1930 census reveals information about LIVING people. I think the time is near, and may be at hand when those who wish to hide their family trees will be more ashamed for having not shared them in the first place. As Also mentioned here, misinformation reins where hoarding is done. Want to set the story straight, than share your information, do not make the rest of the world reinvent the wheel. We are all made better by better information. No matter the cost, time, or energy extended in its creation. Vive le familia!
Posted by: Terry Smith | November 11, 2006 at 04:43 PM
I readily share the genealogy information I have collected with one modification: I don't share ANY information for the 3 most recent generations (me, parents, grandparents) because of the bad experiences I have had. Of course, it's really too late, as people I corresponded with 25 years ago, via snail mail, had no compunction about sending ALL of my data and narrative information, including information on living persons, to WFT, with no attribution to me and without my permission.
This is largely through ignorance and not understanding the standard rules and guidelines for genealogists; I'm not suggesting it was from malice. For example, please see the National Genealogy Society's "Standards For Sharing Information with Others" at http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/comstandsharing.cfm
My dad and aunt's birthdays, etc., wound up on Ancestry.com's One Family Tree while they were living. It took SIX months of argument with Ancestry.com to get that information removed.
I have a standard box at the top of every page of genealogical material I send, reminding people to cite sources. Obviously, I can't copyright public records (b, m, d), but the narrative information about each family is my original work and, therefore, copyrighted. The narrative includes my conclusions, which are also useful in evaluating how reliable my information is.
So, I'll be happy to send you my family information, but please CITE your sources, and get my permission before you publish it or pass it along to someone else.
We ALL benefit from other people's research. Aside from the lack of ethics of incorporating other people's work into your own without attribution, sourcing helps researchers evaluate our research, as Dick notes.
Posted by: soccermom | November 11, 2006 at 05:33 PM
On my web site I publish all information including, on living people. My only exceptions are if you ask me not to publish something I will privatize it, AFTER you have verified what I have. Normally I will only privatize address, phone, internet and work info. You can not ask me to do it on behalf of someone else unless they are your minor child. If you do ask for them I will say no.
I have relatives now complaining that the do not want information published as they had a virgin birth, or after THEY published pictures of their children and their birth they do no want me doing it, or they do not want their parents listed that were named on the wedding invite they published, or they do not want anything published about them at all including a birthdate. etc. etc.
In a recent case I messaged with a relative for two weeks getting information and calling her a SHE. Later someone else said she was a HE, but the person never complained that I had their sex wrong!
In another case someone complained as I listed their occupation from years ago, and then listed a current one in a different field. A prospective employee saw the first one and did not want to hire them. That is not my fault but is stupidity on behalf of the prospective employer.
Part of the problem is that they are scared. They think if it's on the web millions will see it, but infact the site may only get 10-20 hits a day. The more I blank for them the more obvious it is they have something to hide and the harder people will look to find the secret.
If I did not publish all then relatives from Israel, England, Australia, Turkey and other places would not have been able to connect with each other. A genealogy website is to get the information out there and not hide it.
Posted by: Ian Singer | November 12, 2006 at 02:07 AM
An additional note to citing sources or noting where the information was obtained.
If you post someone else's information you should post a contact for the person who graciously shared their information with you. 'Facts' do change with research and your're carved in stone family tree may have some wrong information in it. A lot of people don't varify the information shared with them they just take it as gospel truth. If in your varifying the information you find contradictory facts, you should contact the person who shared their information with you to discus the contradiction. Don't just collect names, dates, etc.. There is a lot more to your family history than filling in blank spaces.
Posted by: Marge Clark | November 12, 2006 at 04:38 AM
A recent survey in the UK found that over 10% of participants had been the victims of identity theft. That may be an exaggeration, but it does illustrate the concerns a lot of people have about how their personal information is used. Banks and credit card companies here frequently use information such as birthdate and mother's maiden name to verify a telephone caller's identity.
It's very unlikely that a fellow genealogist will turn out to be a fraudster, but once information is posted on the Internet anyone can find it using a search engine. At the same time - what's the point of doing all this research if we don't share it with others?
I personally don't want to share my family tree with the whole wide world, but I do want to exchange information with distant cousins who are researching the same lines.
It may not be a complete solution, but I think the approach at the LostCousins site (which I founded) goes some way to addressing both sides of the problem. None of the information entered by members is displayed on the Internet - instead we have an algorithm that identifies people who share the same ancestors with virtually no chance of a false positive.
The result is that by the time two members are in contact they already know that they are related, and to a large extent how. It doesn't guarantee that information that is subsequently exchanged won't be passed on indescriminately, but it certainly improves the odds.
Posted by: Peter Calver | November 12, 2006 at 05:47 AM
I happily shared information with two relatives in my innocent days and then found out my daughter is a privacy devotee and have since learned that those relatives have shared with other relatives, etc. One day our children's and grandchildren's information will end up on the Internet and my daughter will probably never speak to me again.
It's like secrets, once you share them, they will end up being spread around. Don't provide more than a first name, if that, for living people because those who can snoop into government records will use small clues to access more clues and before you know it, well, you get the picture.
Also, it is galling even to generous researchers to have someone post, online, without attribution, information that you provided them as though they "discovered" it. More maddening, is when they manage to mangle the facts in the process!
Posted by: Margaret | November 12, 2006 at 01:28 PM
Ian Singer: what you are doing is extremely inconsiderate, and creates liabilitis for your extended family! All information on living people should be considered private and should not be shared unless you have explicit permission in advance. Once you have it on the web, even if you take it down later, it has been cached and indexed by numerous search engines. That's the thing about the web where the practices haven't yet caught up with the technology - information posted to the web is easily accessible, pervasive and persistent (essentially permanent). So show some courtesy and try not to piss off your "customers".
I've never understodd why a few genealogists insist on publishing information on "family" that they don't even know or are only distantly connected to (if at all), especially when many of those folks wouldn't choose to publish their own details.
The NGS link posted above by soccermom is excellent!
Posted by: Conscientious Genealogist | November 12, 2006 at 01:46 PM
I do not post names, etc. of living people because of possible identity theft. People tend to get upset finding personal information on the web, even though most identity theft doesn't involved the internet and they are usually very careless in other areas security-wise!
On the other hand, if you have a bank or credit card that still uses "mother's maiden name" or "birthdate" as a security code, you might want to ask them to use a more secure method or change your accounts to an institution that is genuinely concerned about security!
I don't mind people posting information I have sent them, as it helps insure it will survive me - unlike what my great-uncle collected which has been largely lost - but I do wish people would give credit for where they got the information.
Posted by: Ted Rice | November 12, 2006 at 02:20 PM
I don't post living people's data either. I also don't post data if the person providing it has requested I not put in on my site. Usually, though, they are putting it on their site, and I can link to their site. I do have some distant family members that have refused to share data with anyone else in the family because "they paid for it." I am only too happy to share any data that I pay for. That's the way I get more data given to me. I think it is the proper thing to do to credit the finder of any data, however.
Incidentally, that we are all related is proven scientifically by DNA studies. It doesn't matter whether you believe in Adam or not.
Posted by: Gordon Banks | November 12, 2006 at 03:12 PM
I now understand how information gets posted on living individuals with no regard to personal or private issues... it's folks like Ian. Do you really think posting someone's personal information would somehow keep folks from finding them? Trust me, if folks really wanted to find someone, they could... and would. You can't truly believe that without posting your relative's previous occupation that folks around the world wouldn't have connected. I have seen cases where folks who are still very much alive are listed as "died after 1950"... making me wonder just who is going to try to connect to them if they're looking for a tombstone instead of a living person. I certainly hope I'm not in any way related to Ian. I read somewhere (and I can't remember where, now) that the rule of thumb to use regarding genealogical information is to ask if it would or could hurt someone. If the answer is yes, you keep that information off the internet, in your personal filing cabinet. That always seemed like very sound advice to me... I truly hope others will think so, too.
Posted by: Jennifer | November 12, 2006 at 04:23 PM
I only share information regarding Ancestors. If we share a common link, I will share information on my great grandparents, great great grandparents etc. Like all newbies, I shared everything in the beginning, but have learned my lesson. A child finding out they were born out of wedlock, or that the father they thought was thier father is not, is not something they need to find on my genealogy website.
Ian, I wonder, if you had a cousin who was trying to avoid an ex because that person had been abusive to thier children, would you still post all thier information on the web. I would hate to know that I endangered any child in any way because I posted information that allowed an abusive parent OR a child preditor to get information on that child and have ways in which to contact that child. If you have the child's parents and grandparents names, and address and phone number on your website, you make it very easy for a child preditor to find that young child. I am not as concerned about privacy (since most of us can be found at switchboard.com anyway) as I am about the safety of minor children.
Posted by: Teresa Elliott | November 12, 2006 at 05:35 PM
"What do you have to hide" is always the specious argument used by someone trying to forward an agenda that typically involves gaining undue access to private information. The more appropriate question would be "how is your private information my business?" Privacy isn't a matter of nefariously concealing information, it's about protecting oneself and one's information from the prying eyes of the less-than-honest members of society. Though, once you're dead, all bets are off, however, that only applies to the individual, not all of their relations close and distant.
Posted by: Jason Presley | November 12, 2006 at 06:33 PM
I have to agree with others about posting information on living persons--it is very inconsiderate.
How many company's security programs are set up to ask for mother's maiden name as question? There have been a number of articles written both in genealogy magazines and their internet sites about NOT posting anything on living persons due to identity theft concerns.
I do not share detailed information on any of my living relatives or my grandparents for that reason. Anything that can be located in a search of a phone book is one thing but more personal details should not be posted on the Web--IMHO.
Posted by: deb webber | November 12, 2006 at 07:12 PM
Answering some of your comments.
If a banks security system is so weak that it asks for your mothers maiden name nothing says that you have to give the right one. All they want is a question and an answer that you will remember.
If someone said my husband is an abuser and is after me no I would not publish their information. BUT if they do not tell me that and THEY publish it on the web then yes I would.
Last time I checked there was no documented case of identity theft from a genealogy website. Why take the time when companies and governements are losijng laptops with hundreds of thousands of names and all identifying information. Its just too slow and time consuming to get from a personal website.
YES when I am talking to people and colelcting information I tell them all it will be posted on the web. If they are sending me pictures I say they will be postedd. If you do not want it posted tell me when you give it to me.
I have made my privacy policy much more obvious and in one section its posted three times on a page and in another section there is a link to it on every page.
If a child molester is going to approach someone and say "Oh I know your mommy and daddy, John and Mary, come with me for some candy" and the child goes that is not my fault but the poor street smarts training the parents have given.
I am only aware of three drawbacks from my site. 1. I get a lot of spam. 2. Some relatives have threatened to sue, and then found that they have no grounds. 3. One relatives job hiring was delayed two weeks as the prospective employer looked at the job they had on high school graduation, inntead of college graduation. The upsides are many including relatives I chat to, or message with around the world, and the school projects the younger ones do about their families. In the past two days I have hits from US, UK, Australia, China and Canada and my hit counters are public.
Posted by: iansinger | November 13, 2006 at 04:00 AM
"Last time I checked there was no documented case of identity theft from a genealogy website. Why take the time when companies and governements are losijng laptops with hundreds of thousands of names and all identifying information. Its just too slow and time consuming to get from a personal website."
This is something I've been saying for awhile. Currently, it's far easier for a criminal to steal credit card information from a compromised website, stolen laptop, embedded spyware or simply asking unwary folks for their information over the phone with a little social engineering. Unless someone is setting up some elaborate con that requires extensive background information on a person, they're not going to bother digging through genealogical information. Or they could just hop onto someone's unsecured home wireless network and copy ALL of their private information off their home computer.
Posted by: Jason Presley | November 13, 2006 at 11:40 AM
The point is that there are ethical standards and guidelines for publishing/sharing genealogy information. If you read the standards, they are based on courtesy and trust. Why WOULDN'T everyone want to follow them?
The more web sites that publish information on living people, the fewer people are going to be willing to share. It doesn't matter if unsophisticated people give us personal/current information; once that information is in your hands, then it's YOUR responsibility to behave ethically.
It is completely irrelevant whether identity theft does or doesn't occur from genealogy information, whether parents have given permission or not to publish information on minors, etc. A "collector" of genealogy information has a responsibility to handle the information ethically.
We can't control other people's lack of sophistication, but we certainly should be able to control our own.
Posted by: soccermom | November 13, 2006 at 12:52 PM
Soccer Mom,
Very good answers on both postings! Thank you for you input and presenting it in a gracious way.
Posted by: Margaret | November 13, 2006 at 01:14 PM
I agree that there is no such thing as genealogical privacy. I have my entire database on Rootsweb World Connect, and they screen out information on people born after 1930. I started doing genealogy in 1958. People were living then who are no long with us. Their contributions to our family information would not be available at all to present generations if I didn't share. Bur I also learned back in 1958 that if you want to keep something private, you just don't tell anyone, and you certainly don't record it in your genealogy records.
Along the way I have collected information on people who are not directly connected to me, but are connected to someone who married into the family. Many of these people have requested that I post information regarding their branch. In addition, I have had information available which sheds light on my own family wanderings and inter-relationships which I have included. In some instances, these connected families being in the same place at the same time are the best evidence I have that I am on the right track.
Lately, using GenSmarts for analyzing my database, I have extended the information I have using census and other publicly available records only. As a result, I have been contacted by many people who are just getting started and had no idea what to do first. This has been a gratifying experience.
Some people have downloaded my GEDCOM and added my notes verbatim to their databases, which they again post to Rootsweb. I find it quite interesting that they have preserved information I wrote about my parents, for instance. Most of these people have not listed me as the source, but I don't think this is because they want to take credit for my work, I think they just don't know how to add a source when they import a GEDCOM.
I am using Personal Historian by Rootsmagic to extend my personal history and I see that this program estimates that I will be alive from 1935 to 2015. I hope I get those additional 9 years to continue researching and sharing information.
Posted by: Lou Pero | November 13, 2006 at 03:33 PM
I don't think any of us are against sharing information. Now if you want your personal information on your website, fine, put it there. I just wonder, When did genealogy stop being about ancestors? While I agree that the 1930 census contains information about some living people, we are talking people who are at a minimum 76 years old. Not someone who is 9. I feel there is a great difference here.
Posted by: Teresa Elliott | November 16, 2006 at 09:57 AM
Thank you, soccer mom, for saying it better than I can!! :)
Posted by: Jennifer | November 19, 2006 at 01:19 PM