Protecting Their Privacy
by Rhonda R. McClure

(This article originally appeared in Family Tree Finders, a 5-day a week genealogy e-mail newsletter.  To subscribe, please visit the Family Tree Finders web site.) 

Have you ever received a phone call from someone who appeared to know a lot about you and yet you knew nothing about him or her? It is a very disconcerting feeling. We tend to guard our privacy very closely, except when it comes to sharing our genealogy and publishing it on the Internet. And we often seem to totally disregard the privacy of other living individuals that are related to us.

As you look around at various family history sites, you will find that many have included information on living individuals. It is not uncommon to see sites which list children born right down into the 1990s. Unfortunately, not everyone on the Internet honest, and for every person we know is accessing our site, there are many others that quietly visit and compile information. Genealogists are generally willing to share their database with anyone that asks, including data about any living individuals. This can result in the names and data of your living relatives appearing on the Internet, even if you yourself have not posted them.

I know of a fellow professional researcher who has, in the last year, twice found herself and her grandchildren listed on two different family history sites. In both cases she has demanded that the information be removed from the site. She is concerned for the privacy of her family members, and rightly so.

So, how do you share your information and not have this happen?

First, when creating a family history web page, include only those generations that have individuals you know are deceased. There is no rule that says you must include everything you know about everyone. Even if you are publishing a book, keep this rule of thumb in mind. One way to do this is the 72-year privacy act. After all the US Federal Government won't release their census records for 72 years to protect the privacy of the living. Perhaps we should apply a similar rule when deciding who to include in our family history web pages.

When sharing your data via GEDCOM with fellow researchers, again, protect your living relatives. It is unusual that a cousin you are corresponding with really needs your entire database. Send them the line that you share, and end it with the most recent generation that does not include living individuals.

If you look at such databases as the Family History Library's Ancestry File (tm), you will find that they do one of two things. For living individuals that are LDS, the name is included in the database. For those living individuals who are not LDS, but are connected to a line submitted by someone, then even the name is omitted, and only the word LIVING is included.

We all need to be considerate of our living relatives. I know that I don't want to plug my name into a browser and discover that my entire life is there for anyone to read about. So it is only fair that we protect the information our living relatives have been kind enough to share with us.