display living online, or not?

cristofa · Post by **cristofa** » 05 Mar 2007 10:33

What are your feelings about displaying the names of living relatives online?

I can't see the objection, myself, but it's evidently an issue some people feel quite strongly about.

ID:2223

Arrick · Post by **Arrick** » 05 Mar 2007 11:11

I know I am a minister, but I am also a Fellow of the British Computer Society, and it is on their advice that I do not publish living details online, or only to trusted people. The problem is that of identity theft - the standard bank security question is 'mother's maiden name' and that is (usually) available on a family tree; so all you really need is a date of birth for a living person and you have enough to get started stealing someone's identity. This is a big industry these days, so,my advice is not to publish it. If you are in touch with someone, and you know their interest is in your genealogy, then, by all means, send them your full Gedcom file, or a subset privately. But don't risk other people suffering identity theft because of your actions.

JonAxtell · Post by **JonAxtell** » 05 Mar 2007 16:22

Unless the person specifically allows full details or requests anonymity, I publish the just names of living people. Most people I have contacted have allowed their names to be published.

I understand the issue about identify theft, but most of the information is available by many other means already, and the name is not much use unless you know their address as well.

IzzardResearcher · Post by **IzzardResearcher** » 07 Mar 2007 23:47

Because some people are strongly against having their details available online and also because of the possibility of identity theft, I've adopted a policy of not publishing any information about living persons. It saves a lot of aggravation in the long run.

Regards

Lindsey

Family Historian User Group