Privacy and on line trees
My data has been electronically abused by an on line tree submitter. Years ago, I would share my research information and who knows how many people have this data in their home family tree programs. At the time I shared this information I did not know what was around the corner - on line family trees. On the whole I think most people are genuine about only listing the deceased but there are a small percentage that don’t even know what they have in their home family tree program and just upload the lot to any on line tree they can find.
I have real concerns about this indiscriminate up loading of data and have experienced extreme negative responses when I have requested that my own name be removed from the data stored on line. This is so frustrating, as these people that have uploaded my data don’t show their own names or closest family still living on line. These people don’t even know me, yet they willing share my data to the world without thought or respect for my privacy.
My warning to all - don’t share anything that is not over 120 years old. At least at 120 years you know there is a very small chance the person in the data will be alive.
On line trees are a research tool that should not be abused. There appears to be a tendency amongst some users of on line trees to become name collectors. This is not research, collecting some one else’s data and not recording the source just becomes a long list of names in a family tree format. When someone tells me they have 16,502.5 people on their family tree, I have to wonder how genuine they really are about research. Yes, I know you can’t have .5 of a person which is my point, the list just becomes a list, no matter what the number is when the on line tree becomes a name collectors tree.