These are very important issues and I'm happy to see someone has brought these issues to everyone's attention. For myself I have no problem with others using information for their own research or to have on hand with the possibility of future use where they can't place families now. I don't think that information should be posted if the researcher requests that it not be posted and the researcher is not even a part of that family they are posting. About six months into my researching I was still trying to piece our family together with what little information I had from my Aunt's Family Tree. No one in our immediate family knew of what I had found as I didn't feel it was complete enough to print for them yet and I was making contact with others who could help. I found someone who gave me much information I was seeking and who was also a distant relative. I wanted him to have some information on our family should anyone else be searching for any of them as well. After I typed up the information consisting of birthdates and some living Aunts and Uncles, as soon as I had sent it I realized my mistake. I had sent it to someone else by mistake. She wrote back thanking me and asking if she could use it in her files. I immediately told her that it was sent to her by mistake, that I didn't mind if she kept it on hand but I did not want anything posed. When she wrote again she said that it was not sent to her by mistake. I explained to her that I was still researching and at this point I did not know how accurate the information was. Soon after not only was every name I sent to her posted but those living were posted as well and some had birthdates with them. She wrote again telling me these were all listed under Broderbund and as far as I could see not even related to her. I soon wrote to my sister who also does some researching and she told her the family did not want anything posted. She wrote back and was exceptionally rude to her, saying that "we should both just go back to our clannish ways". Yes, I was angry thinking my unresearched research had gone public, so I took action. I wrote immediately sending all of my emails to and from her to the ancestry site explaining what had happened. I told them I did not want her posting this, that it was sent by mistake. I thought that I had some rights but I was wrong. I thought she would have done what was right but she didn't. They said they would check into it but it was weeks before some of the names were taken off of those that were living. Some of these names never existed on the Internet until she posted them. I haven't checked lately because it's obvious I can't do anything anyway. I guess I'm angry because those who love to research should have consideration for others on the Internet the same as for those who are a neighbor or a friend. There are many good people out there researching and without some of them I couldn't have found what I have. If someone wants to go to the Courthouse and finds something out about my family I have no objection should we be a part of that family. But I also think we as researchers should have some rights for our families that we are researching in the sense that should we not want something posted it should be removed. Not that things shouldn't be posted. They should be, should no one object. One more thing, this incident did cause me some problems with my family tree. I told the family I would not post anything on the Internet so they would not be hesitant to give me the information that I so needed to write the tree. By this information being posted I have had difficulty with some of the family returning to me their portion of the updated family tree. I guess I should have taken that one day off researching.... Kathleen Shick julioett@penn.com ----- Original Message ----- From: GJ & SJ <gljslj@penn.com> To: <PAELK-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2001 9:15 AM Subject: [PAELK] Discussion on another list > There was recently a discussion on another list that I was on that I found > very interesting, but the listowners nipped it in the bud before it really > go off the ground. I am posting the two emails here that started the > discussion, and invite comments from those of you on the list. I too feel > that this is going to become an issue in the future for online researchers. > > Please keep in mind, that someone else having your name and birthdate, > marriage date, etc in their files is perfectly legal and as it stands now, > there is nothing you can do about it. Having said that, please read on: > > > "Most of us who have been on the web for awhile know that it is considered > bad form to post information on living individuals to internet webpages, > forums, etc. While it may be legal, it may not be ethical. > > So how do you feel about researchers who access information in the > courthouses on living individuals,and then take the info home to add to > their databases? How would you feel if you found out someone had accessed > YOUR marriage licence, abstracted the data, and entered you into their > family tree without your knowledge? How would you feel if someone looked > up > your father's will and abstracted family info from it? BTW, this is all > perfectly legal and within an individual's rights, and I have done research > this way many, many times. > > There seems to be a movement afoot of certain folks who believe that NO > information whatsoever on living individuals should be entered into > anyone's > database-- no names OR dates. They feel access to these courthouse records > should be restricted. I think that this would have a serious detrimental > effect on genealogy, but I can kind of see both sides of this issue, and I > am having trouble forming an opinion. I am interested in what others have > to > say." > > "If someone e-mailed you and DEMANDED to be removed from your genealogy > database, would you do it? Should you do it? Has this ever happened to > any > of you? What did you do? > > Do you feel that births listed in the newspaper are also "fair game" and > advocate adding these to a database? How about survivor listings in an > obituary? Engagement announcements? Marriage announcements? All of these > resources used by genealogists, and yet all of them dealing with living > people. > > One woman in a forum that I was reading said it should be a law that a > signed permission slip should be obtained from every living person in an > individual's database. The logistics of this little gem of wisdom are > staggering. I would quickly pack up my family group sheets and retire from > genealogy if this ever came to pass." > > > > > ==== PAELK Mailing List ==== > To unsubscribe from the Elk Co., PA mailing list, send an e-mail to paelk-l-request@rootsweb.com with the word "unsubscribe" in the body of the e-mail. (minus the quotation marks!) > > ============================== > Ancestry.com Genealogical Databases > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/rwlist2.asp > Search over 2500 databases with one easy query! > >