This may be "old", but still "current".
A good explain-ation of "WHY NOT".
MISSING LINKS: A Weekly Newsletter for Genealogists
Vol. 3, No. 23, 5 June 1998
Copyright (c) 1996-98 Julia M. Case and Myra Vanderpool Gormley
Editor-at-Fault: Julia M. Case
Co-Editor-to-Blame: Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG
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WELDING LINKS: PRIVACY AND THE WEB
by Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG <[email protected]>
Would you post personal information about your family -- like their birth dates and who they married and when -- on the local grocery store's bulletin board? You wouldn't? Then don't post it on your home page on the World Wide Web--
that's the world's bulletin board, says Carole Lane, author of "Naked in Cyberspace: How to Find Personal Information Online" (Pemberton Press, 1997, $29.95).
Don't make it easy for thieves to steal your identity by posting your Social Security number, birthdate, address and mother's maiden name on the Web either. Of course, you wouldn't do that. However, if you want a real shocker take a look at the way some genealogists are exposing themselves and their relatives on their home pages.
While gathering information for a book lately, I've examined hundreds of home pages of genealogists, and they are a pretty sight --
for cyber thieves, that is.
In our eagerness to share our family history material and utilize the power of the Internet we have forgotten that not everyone is honest.
Genealogists are not even thinking of the possible consequences when they take a GEDCOM from Cousin Clare (who got part of it from Cousin Billy, who got part of it from Cousin Bonnie, etc.) and post it on their home page. Oh, it's wonderful information for genealogists, right down to everyone's grandchildren's names, their spouses' names, and their birth dates and addresses.
The fact that they have invaded the privacy of their relatives has not crossed their minds.
Christine Gaunt, co-compiler of Genealogy Resources on the Internet
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~cgaunt/gen_int1.html, shared her concerns and thoughts about this problem with me recently.
They include these suggestions:
-- You can post some information without posting what is an identifier. Instead of saying that Jane DOE is your mother, say that you are researching the Jane DOE line, and here is the information you have on her, and where you've looked. Don't post your (or living family members') birth dates and birthplaces.
-- Don't post Social Security numbers at all. Ditto for other identifying numbers like driver's license numbers.
-- Decide for yourself what information you want to give to cousins you have met online.
-- Use a program such as GedClean to remove information about living individuals from your database before sending it to someone else, or to a repository. That way, your birth date and birthplace won't get into someone else's database.
-- Ask permission before you send GEDCOMs you've received on to someone else. That way, the originators can keep track of who has their data.
-- We may want to ask/tell our credit card companies that Mom's maiden name is NOT a good password to use and to ask for a PIN or other password instead.
An article entitled "Home-page Snoops," by Margaret Mannix appears on the "U.S. News & World Report" magazine online edition at:
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/articles/980511/archive_003918.htm
Check out the related links at this site, particularly those regarding identity theft and advice from the Social Security Administration on what to do if someone else uses your number.
