Genealogy Chat

on someone eles's tree yesterday.Also my husbands and my mum and dad.Never had contact with this fella so asked him to remove us.His reply was it was in the public forum and he did bmd look-ups.He also has us under living.Anyone looking at his tree cant see us but if you put up tree matches we are there.He had 5 discepancies including my birth year.Can i report him to Genes and get our names removed? Annie

simple answer is yes you can get them removed Roy

I'm not really sure about this, but I think you have to have permission to put any details at all on your tree about living individuals. I would contact GR and ask them whether what he is doing is right or wrong. Kath. x

Yes....GR will remove the names of living people who have not consented to being put on someone's tree. Their policy is clear. The fact that the information is in the public domain is irrelevant. The same thing happened to me quite recently. The person concerned contacted me to ask for information on a common ancestor, who was born at the turn of the 19th C. They wanted to see my tree. I politely explained that I don't open my tree, but said I would see what I could find from my notes and get back to her. I couldn't get to it immediately and very soon after I got my parents, myself and quite a few others as Hot Matches from this person's tree! I knew, from the particular errors in her tree (she had opened it to me at the time of her original request and hadn't withdrawn access) that she had got the info from someone whom I had once given access to my tree. I sent her a very strongly worded private message and advised her of GR's policy and gave her 24 hours to remove the names or else I would report her to GR and provide them with a list of names I wanted removed. She replied and said that she would remove the names of living people, though she didn't really see why she should have to. I gave her a list of names, including some who had died, but who, for all she knew, could very well still be alive, such as my dad, born in 1937 and who died in 2002. Try the threat first: if it doesn't work, contact GR and give them the names of EVERYONE who you know to be living . Amanda

I found mine and my husbands names on 2 trees put ther witout our permission so I asked them to remove our names they didn't so I reported it to Genes and our names were removed by them. Bren

Thanks for replys.I have e-mailed him twice.He has removed husband my dad and me.Said he has removed my mum,but she is still there.Have now reported him to Genes.I have asked him on behalf of all my cousins to remove all mums brothers and sisters but he has refused.Although some have died will Genes still remove them?They have not even been on a census yet and we are all upset especially me, as my mum is alive.He has 8000 names on his tree and i dont want to be on a name collectors tree.When i asked him about my gg grandfather he said he was only a remote part of his tree and knew nothing of him.Now he has all my mums family without our permission. Annie

Grannie Annie He MUST remove your mum. If your mum's brothers and sisters are alive you can insist he moves them. Tell GR that they have not given permission for anyone but you to put them on their tree. If this person doesn't know that some of them have died, include their names as well. That's what I did. In my case, although I couldn't insist that she remove long dead people, such as my grandparents, I asked her to consider seriously if she wanted on her tree people who she hadn't the slightest knowledge of and who meant nothing to her. I reminded her that the common ancestor we shared was born in 1821 died in the 1870s. From that generation, our familied branched off and had no further contact. Obviously that meant nothing to her and she has kept them, and others, on her tree, along with the errors she has copied from the person who had exchanged tree access with me, about two years ago. It is really beyond me how anyone can gain any sense of satisfaction out of creating that sort of tree. Amanda Amanda

There is no point in creating scene. The person is entitled to have whatever names he wants in their tree as they are in the public domain. However GR have a policy re living persons so you can ask for the details to be removed from this site, if you feel strongly about it.