My late Father dabbled in genealogy and my Father-In-Law enjoys genealogy as well. I am continuing where my Father left off and find it very interesting, as do many other people I am sure. Therefore, when I hear of genealogy sites to gather more information, I listen intently.
Imagine my surprise, I had the news on tonight and heard of a site I was unfamiliar with. FamilyTreeNow which boasts of one of the largest collections of genealogy records for 100% free. The report was warning the public that Tweets and Facebook posts have gone viral warning the public that the information on this site includes the age, birth month, family members, addresses and phone numbers for individuals in their system. It also takes a guess at possible associates, all on a publicly accessible page.
I was intrigued, so I checked it out and, wow, was I surprised. They knew the date I was married and the county it was in, as well as other information that some sites actually ask for payment to receive.
Privacy Issues Raised
I can see where this would be a problem if you had a stalker or was a victim of domestic violence and you were trying to keep your location private. I can also see if you were in a profession where your information was sensitive. It could be very dicey to have your information out there for anyone who trolls the Internet.
I conducted a search on the site and there were mixed thoughts from the public. Some folks in the military were happy to be able to reunite with fellow veterans. There were others that were downright irate and appalled that so much information about themselves was out there. It raises a red flag to me about identity theft with the amount of information they provide for no cost. I encourage all of you to check it out and make up your own mind and share your thoughts with us.
If you choose, you can find your own listing and follow the steps to opt out at this FamilyTreeNow Opt Out Page.
Even if you choose to opt out, there is no tool that will keep your information absolutely 100% safe. It is up to you to remain vigilant about that.
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I checked out this site using my own name. First, I was surprised to see how many there are out there. Not all of them actually apply to myself, different middle names. Second, it appears that information they have that does apply to me came from a phone book or post office and not anywhere else. No birth records, marriage records, etc. And what they do have isn’t accurate. I’m not overly concerned as there isn’t much I can do about what records are in the public area. Seems it would be easier for criminals to look elsewhere than searching through a haystack like this.
Ok, I did multiple searches and much of the information I retreived could not be found in a phone book. For example: dates of marriage and the county. Some websiutes that you go to have a button that says sponsored if you want additional information & there is a charge for it. This site appears to offer it for free.
Interesting, Sherri.
They have my name, including middle-name, birth year, and age. Under possible relatives they have my son, my ex-wife, my brother and his deceased wife, one of my 3 sisters, all with correct birth year and age. Under possible associates they have my ex-mother-, father-, and sister-in law with correct birth year and age.
They also have my current address and the previous three. A quick check looks like drilling down for the relatives and associates gives their own relatives/associates and addresses.
They also have my marriage date (although they switch our ages) but not the divorce and they don’t have my birth record (which you think they would).
Just think what bad actors can do with maiden name information…
Thanks Sherri Meinke. Anything CAN and WILL be used against us (as far as I am concerned) so I opted out. That there is still plenty of info about myself out in the wild doesn’t make me feel good.
This site seems only to apply to people in America
glad I was able to share it with you Mike. Some of the info appears to be accurate some of the info though some dates are off I noticed or spelling.
Your information is available everywhere, not just on Family Tree. Entering my husband’s name in a Google search box brings up his family members’ names, including his ex-wife, their locations and ages, his place of business, our home address and phone number, even a picture of our house.
We try to stay anonymous. Neither of use have Facebook or Twitter accounts. You can’t live in today’s world and stay off the grid.
What I’m saying is that the information on Family Tree is not unique to Family Tree.
Not a very legitimate site, just a conglomeration of info, some correct and much not correct, that’s already out there on the usual crappy people-finding sites like intelius, et al. It showed several correct addresses for me as well as two I have never heard of. Plus I didn’t see any option to verify if this was me or to opt out.