* Privacy settings

[K17]

I am new to FH and still learning about the program.
I am a concerned about privacy [for living people] with the new hint system for my heritage and find my past.
If I am not a member of either of these websites [therefore have no tree on their site] but have FH enabled for hints do these websites access my program and give this information as hints to others? Or is the program only looking at my project to give me hints based on what they have in records on their site including public trees?

[K17]

I forgot to ask are there privacy settings in FH ? If yes, where do I find them please and do any help with internet protection for living individuals when the hint system is enabled

[mjashby]

From the Family Historian Menu, click on Help > Family Historian Help and in the Search Tab type 'Privacy' (without the quotes). You should find the entry :"Preferences Dialog: Internet Data Matches" which has a full explanation (together with links to the Privacy Terms of both My Heritage and FindMyPast).

If you also Search the Help File for 'Record Flags' you will find an explanation of the use of the inbuilt 'Living' and 'Private' Flags; and I would also recommend searching for 'Private Notes' which explains how to mark up notes you want to make for research purposes, but may wish to exclude from reports etc. because the information may be "too sensitive".

This link to the Knowledgeable entry may also be useful:how_to:make_family_tree:step_1_choose_privacy_options|> Family Tree Wizard ~ Step 1 – Choose Privacy Options

Mervyn

[tatewise]

You are sensible to be concerned about privacy, but your data is NOT compromised by 'hints'.
Those websites do NOT access your program or data.
FH sends requests for records relating only to people shown in your Focus Window and only if you enable 'hints'.
That information is NOT passed on to anywhere else, just sent back to FH to display to you.

If you do not subscribe to MyHeritage nor FindMyPast, then the 'hints' are of limited benefit. You cannot mark them as accepted or rejected, nor lookup their details, except for the occasional free searches. The best you can do is make notes, and try to find the matching records on free websites. See research:useful_research_web_sites|> Useful Research Web Sites.

For maximum privacy, disable 'hints' entirely via Tools > Preferences > Internet Data Matches.

BTW: You can upload Gedcom trees for free to many websites such as FindMyPast and Ancestry and ZoomPast without a subscription, and there are privacy controls that can be added, if you are interested in that option.

Privacy only becomes important if you are exporting your database to a website, or to friends & relations, either in Gedcom format or in Diagrams & Reports. One technique for applying such privacy is to use the Living and Private flags and the [[private note]] format, but there are other tools that help too.
See how_to:delete_data_for_living_people|> Delete Data For Living People and fhugdownloads:livingpeople|> Downloads and Links ~ Living People Identification.

[K17]

Thank you to Tatewise and Merryn. I will look into what you have both written.

[E Wilcock]

I cant believe this. I have had difficulty getting this info today., The book, Getting the Most from Family Historian 6, has no index entry for Privacy.
And the page in the Help tucks this info about [[ xxx]] right at the bottom.
Does a single square bracket print out or is it a lower level of privacy?

[tatewise]

When you say print out hat can apply to Diagrams or Reports.

Single [square brackets] will always be printedr.

Double [[square brackets]] may be printed with the text, or may be excluded, or both text & brackets excluded.
It depends on the options chosen.
Most Diagrams and Reports have options to Inc. [[private]] Notes and also Remove [[ and ]] or not.

It is documented in the FH Help > Search Help for both privacy and private.

[SandieNZ]

Apologies for jumping into this thread but I too have been circumnavigating the web for hours looking for an answer re My Heritage and privacy.
Bear with me while I explain...
I've used FH as my genealogy program for many years but have only recently moved to V6.
I don't like the focus window (preferring to view what I was used to in my V2 ) but happened upon it and its little automatic data hints today.
Clicking on my own family I was horrified to see mine and my sister/cousins and aunts/uncles who are living, full names displayed in someone's tree.
I clicked on the Contact but as I don't have a subscription I can't reach the person concerned.
I'm assuming that like most other programs, My Heritage has a Living Person privacy function, but this tree owner has just chosen not to use it.
How do I contact the tree owner to ask them to hide me without forking out for a subscription that I don't intend to use again?

And am I right in assuming that the "In My Family Historian Tree" data showing on the left of the box (which is my own research - I can tell by the quirky way I label my people) is actually NOT viewable by anyone else in cyberspace because I do not (to my knowledge) have a tree with My Heritage?

Appreciate your wisdom here. Thanks.

[Valkrider]

Are you a resident of the European Union? If you are then you could do this using the GPDR legislation. If you aren't then you will have to check out the T's & C's on the My Heritage site.

[ColeValleyGirl]

1. Yes, you're right -- the data shown as 'in your Family Historian' tree isn't visible to anyone else.

2. Try contacting MyHeritage and explaining the issue -- I know of people who have had success with that approach.

[SandieNZ]

Are you a resident of the European Union? If you are then you could do this using the GPDR legislation. If you aren't then you will have to check out the T's & C's on the My Heritage site.

No I'm in New Zealand. Will try looking further, thank you.

[SandieNZ]

1. Yes, you're right -- the data shown as 'in your Family Historian' tree isn't visible to anyone else.

2. Try contacting MyHeritage and explaining the issue -- I know of people who have had success with that approach.

Thank you for confirming 1. I'll give 2. a go.


thanks