I received this through another surname list. I thought this would be of interest to everyone. Cindy in China Spring, Texas [email protected] *********** BEGIN FORWARDED MESSAGE *********** On 10/31/98, at 10:16 PM, Jerry Wright Jordan <[email protected]> wrote: > >I subscribe to the Eastman's Online Genealogy Newswletter. The >following article was in the latest edition that I just received. IT IS >IMPORTANT TO YOUR PRIVACY - READ IT! > >Jerry > > The following article is from Eastman's Online Genealogy > Newsletter and is copyright 1998 by Richard W. Eastman and > Ancestry, Inc. It is re-published here with the permission of > the author. > > > - Genealogy Web Site Sells Your Name and E-mail Address > >It's a tough world. Lots of businesses sell their customer lists >these days. The result is that you get junk mail and marketing >phone calls from all sorts of companies trying to sell you >something you probably don't want. The newest twist is "spam >mail", unwanted e-mails that advertise all sorts of junk. Now a >well-known genealogy Web site is contributing to the spam mail >that you receive and apparently is profiting from personal >information that they obtain from you under the guise of helping >you do genealogy research. In fact, the Web site apparently is a >"front", as the main purpose seems to be gathering personal >information about you and then selling that information. > >The Family Tree House Web site at http://www.usaafter.com claims >that it is "the Association for FamilyTree Enrollment and >Registry." The home page says, "This site offers free family tree >software and links to key genealogy sites. The software is >available on-line. You can build your FamilyTree House in real >time, no downloading is required." > >They also say, "...you can create and register your own on-line >FamilyTree. And because it is on-line, you can enlist the help of >other family members by giving them your personal access code to >allow them to fill in the missing branches--it's a project the >whole family can participate in no matter where they live." On >another page the site advises, "When requesting information, >please make sure you include your name, mailing address and the >information you would like." > >After they collect all the personal information from you and your >other family members, the owners of Family Tree House apparently >package the information and sell it to other companies that send >junk mail or spam e-mails. On a different Web site, the owners of >Family Tree House offer "a file of 33,600 last-12-month >registrants of the Family Tree House, an association that offers >Web site members free software and links to genealogy sites." The >file they sell reportedly contains information about each person's >date of birth, gender, e-mail address, state and ZIP code. The Web >advertisement says that the file contains listings for 33,600 >people who have left personal information on the Family Tree House >site. > >To check for yourself, first look at http://www.usaafter.com and >then look at: > >http://www.mediacentral.com/Magazines/DirectNewsline/Archive/1998100910.htm > > > > > >-- >Jerry Wright Jordan >email: [email protected] >List owner: WRIGHT Family Discussion List >Web Pages: >Cherokee pages: http://www.tngenweb.usit.com/cherokee_by_blood/index.htm > >WRIGHT pages: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Bluffs/9335/index.html >WRIGHTs in NC Pages: >http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Bluffs/9335/wright/nc.html > *********** END FORWARDED MESSAGE ***********