Further, a practical and safety matter: In an ideal world there would not be identity theft. But it is getting relatively common. To have names associated with the family background is one of the strong tools a identity thief could use. Genealogy sites are known as one of the potential easy sources of private information. A thief could, of course, amass the info in other ways, but ... if one were to follow that logic, everything about a person, would be public because "if might be gotten elsewhere so why bother safeguarding it".
And further, an ethical matter: Does not an individual deserve the right of privacy, especially regarding their identity? It seems to me as if the minimum one could do is to at least ask their permission before exposing their name on a public family tree. And even further, a legal matter: I don't know the law in all states nor nations. But it wouldn't surprise me if some nations, such as some countries in Western Europe had restrictions on that. Though again, I don't know -----Original Message----- From: JLB [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Sunday, October 28, 2012 10:32 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [LegacyUG] Question regarding website building The information is only publicly available if someone already knows a name. Why make it easier for the snoops by giving out the names? Anyone born after about 1900 can still have living children. My grandmother born in 1899 does. --- JL Beeken JLog - simple computer technology for genealogists http://www.jgen.ws/jlog/ On 10/28/2012 9:57 PM, Brian L. Lightfoot wrote: > I think this bottle has been passed around many times before. As many > of the other replies may so indicate, the choice of “Living†over > the actual name seems to be the politically correct answer. But as > what little hair I have left grows more grey and my eyes get dimmer, I > find myself pondering this over and over myself. I can certainly > understand omitting just about all details about a living person but > why is it not prudent to just show their names? > > Before you answer, consider that their birth is a matter of public > record, there was probably a newspaper publication naming their > parents when they were born, probably a wedding announcement giving > names of parents, siblings, and other relatives published in their > local city and elsewhere. Their names are easily found by looking in > the white pages of a phone book which not only gives the phone number > but their residential address. Even if you’re not sure of the exact > names of children then a quick click and visit to Spokeo.com reveals > quite a bit about the parents including the names of their children. > > My point is that all this information is readily available and open to > the public but for some reason the direction that genealogy has taken > in the past 20 years is to hide even their names. Someone tell me why > and please do it without using the word “privacy†because their > lives have all been public so far. Just wondering. > > Brian in CA > > *From:*Richard Falzini [mailto:[email protected]] <snip> > *Subject:* [LegacyUG] Question regarding website building > > Hello, > > I have been up dating my web site I have made with Legacy, and at the > current moment I do not list names, birth dates, marriage dates, etc. > > of any living individuals. > > when the name of a living person should be displayed it says LIVING. > > I wanted to ask should I keep my site like that, or would it be ok to > show the name such as Richard Falzini but suppress all personal data > from the viewers of my site? > > I look forward to all input regarding my question > > Thanks > > Rich <snip> Legacy User Group guidelines: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp Follow Legacy on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/LegacyFamilyTree) and on our blog (http://news.LegacyFamilyTree.com). To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp
