Hello, List, I have a few questions to throw out here. I will be publishing a family history book this year and was wondering if anyone had any "tips" or things I should know. Also, when it comes to publishing information about currently living family members is there anything I should be aware of according the Privacy Act? Any legal measures I should take? Keep in mind that I am asking about Canadian issues that may arise, since I live in Canada. Any suggestions would be greatly appreicated. Sincerely, Caroline Rose Ontario, Canada --------------------------------- Post your free ad now! Yahoo! Canada Personals

Yes. You can be sued for publishing information on living family members. That doesn't mean you will be. The usual rule of thumb from my understanding is that and following what Ancestry.com does in showing trees is that all living persons are listed only as "Living" and Last Name. No private information. I know this is frustrating but much simpler than a lawsuit. If it is a private family tree, you can ask and I would get a signed letter from each person that it is okay to publish their information. Then it would be permissible to print that material. Pat Morano ----- Original Message ----- From: "Caroline Rose" <carolinerrose@yahoo.ca> To: <CA-ONT-CEMETERIES-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, January 24, 2005 10:02 AM Subject: Privacy Act & Publishing > Hello, List, > > I have a few questions to throw out here. I will be publishing a family > history book this year and was wondering if anyone had any "tips" or > things I should know. > > Also, when it comes to publishing information about currently living > family members is there anything I should be aware of according the > Privacy Act? Any legal measures I should take? Keep in mind that I am > asking about Canadian issues that may arise, since I live in Canada. > > Any suggestions would be greatly appreicated. > > Sincerely, > > Caroline Rose > Ontario, Canada > > > > > - ------------------------------- > Post your free ad now! Yahoo! Canada Personals > > ______________________________

I know the original post was about Canada, but in the United States, at least, there is NO PROHIBITION from publishing information on the living by individuals. The privacy act does not even apply to individuals, it applies only to GOVERNMENT AGENCIES. It is these government agencies who are prohibited from giving information. This is why you can't get 1970 census information, for example, because that would have to come from a government agency, which is subject to the privacy act. As an individual, there is no statute barring one from publishing information on the living. If I have my own website, then I can publish any truthful item about a living person, and there is NOTHING they can do about it. Sure, they can sue me...but they can't sue me AND WIN, which is the issue. Anyone can sue anyone for any reason. I could sue my grandpa for being left-handed if I felt like it (it would probably earn me some "contempt of court", but I could still do it). For those that disagree with me about the privacy act, I encourage you to trouble yourself to actually read it first (from the US dept. of Justice website): http://www.usdoj.gov/foia/privstat.htm The ancestry.com policy is just that. It is a policy, not a statute. Any publications of information on the living have nothing to do with this policy in a legal sense, EXCEPT that you should abide by the policy if you are publishing at a website controlled by the policy (i.e., a myfamily.com or subsidiary), else be subject to whatever remedy they see fit. If you doubt the content of the policy, then perhaps you can trouble yourself to read it: http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/privacy.html A LOT of people in the USA have the completely erroneous view that individuals are prohibited from publishing information on the living simply because there is something called "The Privacy Act", without ever bothering themselves to read it. I suspect the case is similar for Canada, though know not for certain. Brock Way > Yes. You can be sued for publishing information on > living family members. > That doesn't mean you will be. The usual rule of > thumb from my > understanding is that and following what > Ancestry.com does in showing trees > is that all living persons are listed only as > "Living" and Last Name. No > private information. I know this is frustrating but > much simpler than a > lawsuit. If it is a private family tree, you can > ask and I would get a > signed letter from each person that it is okay to > publish their information. > Then it would be permissible to print that material. > Pat Morano __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - Find what you need with new enhanced search. http://info.mail.yahoo.com/mail_250