Members copying your tree

Discussion in Genealogy Forum started by Susan Standish, Oct 21, 2021
SS
Susan Standish
  website
I have recently found another researcher on here who has every detail of my tree including word for word of my notes alongside a particular ancestor. I know I have never been in contact with this person until I did a search of "connections" and asked just days ago if I can have a look at his tree as we seemed to have a joint ancestor. I am in shock as I always understood that a tree was private unless permission is given.
RB
Robert Burns
  website
As far as I know, an invitation is required to make your tree available to others. I just went to your tree and it asked me to ask for an invitation.
SS
Susan Standish
  website
As far as I know, an invitation is required to make your tree available to others. I just went to your tree and it asked me to ask for an invitation.
After I discovered the copy tree I altered my privacy from Medium to the strongest level. I know I have never given any permission to this person to view my tree, I don't want to ask him outright as I don't want to alienate him.
RB
Robert Burns
  website
After I discovered the copy tree I altered my privacy from Medium to the strongest level. I know I have never given any permission to this person to view my tree, I don't want to ask him outright as I don't want to alienate him.
All I can tell you is to report it to the Tech Forum and maybe they will look into it for you. Hopefully the guy hasn't hacked the site.
AS
Alan Scott
  website
A tree is as private as you make it. If you don't want it copied set your privacy accordingly. No point in complaining if data in your site is copied if you have not set privacy to stop that happening. In my tree it is set so only family members can view living people. Any one is more than welcome to view and copy data on deceased persons.

I have taken the liberty of copying and showing here what one of my distant relatives has on her home page -

"A warning to anyone who wishes to exchange information with me. If you send me information, it will be shared with other genealogists, through this webpage and only living person's birth details will be hidden. If you do not feel comfortable with this attitude or want to hide family secrets, do not share them with me! I don't want to know, frankly. Keep your secrets to yourself, please'

"Genealogy is for sharing, without sharing it has no purpose! Preserving the past is best done by sharing the past, not leaving it in the hands of a few!"

I have always liked and fully agree with my relatives views. However, everyone has their own views and thoughts on this subject. We can make our own decision when setting privacy for our sites and also, only make family we can trust, as full members.

JM
Jennifer Martinez
Your tree probably made their day, since most trees do not provide much info beyond names and birth/death dates. And most likely they will have some knowledge of another branch on your tree, if they are descendants of a common ancestor. I build mine not just for my family, but also for anybody who is researching genealogy, so I try to collect as much as I can, and hope for someone else to contribute what I do not have, especially for 3rd great grandparents and beyond. And for those great grandparents, I find cousins who are descendants of great uncles and aunts. I even found a family historian on my fathers side, which was awesome because I did not know my fathers side too well, and through him I was able to connect with cousins in their 80s and 90s that can provide more accurate information about my ancestors from the late 1800s-early 1900s in the same way we can about our grandparents (closer generation).

However, I do get what you are saying about taking what you write and having it copied, if they aren’t giving you credit as their source. Anything you do not want to share should be able to set private.