RootsChat.Com
General => The Common Room => Topic started by: Ruskie on Wednesday 29 August 18 23:21 BST (UK)
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I have two accounts with Find My Past and just received the following email:
We’re getting in touch to let you know about some upcoming changes to your account. From September, your previously viewed records in 'My records' will only be accessible with a valid subscription.
We’ll update you on the exact date this change is planned for closer to the time.
- You’ll need a valid subscription to view all records* stored in ‘My records’, including those previously viewed via free trial or free access promotion.
- If you choose to subscribe, you'll have access only to the records included in your subscription. You may need to upgrade to view others.
- The history of the records you searched will be retained in your account, so you won’t lose track of your progress and previously viewed records.
I don't think I'm very happy about that.
I am not a regular FindMyPast user. I have purchased a couple of single month subscriptions in the past and taken advantage of the odd free or £1 offer, and I have no intention or desire to purchase a full subscription. I find that I just don't get on very well with FindMyPast for many reasons and find them a bit "sneaky" and this is reinforced by the above. It is fair enough to have these restrictions for new members (so they know what you are signing up for), but for current members or members who have let their subscriptions lapse, possibly after many years, I think it unfair.
They also say this change is happening in September. Tomorrow is the last day of August. That doesn't leave much time for people to extract any of their (hundreds? thousands? of) previous saved searches and images before they no longer have access to them. They claim they will give an exact date for the change closer to the time. I wonder how much notice they will give?
Now I will have to try to remember my passwords and try to extract the images or information before my access is denied. I have not looked yet, but can anyone give a simple to follow step by step instructions on how to save images which you have already viewed and have in "My Records"? I have pages of them. Do I need to go through them one by one and save the relevant images? ::)
Added: I did look to see if there was already a thread on this subject but could not see one. If I missed it, please merge or remove this one. Thanks. :)
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Thanks for the 'heads up' Ruskie!
I will check my emails (not something I do often enough)!
I'm pretty sure most records which are relevant to me at the time, I download to my comp i.e. not sure how to regain access to anything as I don't recall saving anything to 'My Records' unless it's automatic when I download them?
I agree, the changes those sites make should be for new members as what you're saying is, we pay for the use/records etc. but nothing to tell us (at anytime) in the process, this will not be available at a later date?
I can't understand how they can get away with it unless there's something in the 'small print'?
Annie
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I received the same email today. I do not have a current sub to this site.
"My Records" are mine. I paid for them.
Food for thought.
Carol
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Just checked my email & have the same message.
Obviously following the tradition of 'Fancestry' ???
Not the best way to acquire custom/customers/members/subscribers...whichever word suits ::)
Annie
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"My Records" are mine. I paid for them.
Food for thought.
Maybe we should all send an email stating your quote Carol?
Annie
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Ditto Carol! I don't have a current subscription either! Bl***y annoying isn't it. I have such a lot of records stored in there - most of which I've, fortunately, already added to my Ancestry tree. But I'm going to check if there are any I've missed.
Another very disappointing change of things today, not genealogy, but a few days ago, I had an email from the Velocity Airpoints people. The email said that I had 11,939 Airpoints due to expire tomorrow, 31st August. (I'd forgotten about them - silly me) So I quickly logged in to spend it pronto - huh? shopping site is temporarily closed for upgrading! I phoned their call centre, spent about an hour on the phone with several different people, all with foreign accents, and no joy as to how I can redeem them, other than booking another flight, and a couple of other stupid things like wait for it - .....buy a cup of coffee at BP service centre, and that would reactivate my points, then I could go shopping! But the shopping is offline at present lady. - and The BP Service centre has to be in Australia. ??? ??? I only just managed to stop myself giving them an earful of Kiwi bad language, and telling them where they could go and what they should do!! GRRR! I even asked them to email me with the options she had given me, but she said "we don't do emails in this department, it's a call centre" 😡😡😡. I'm not at all a Happy Chappy GRRR!
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I have just looked at My Records on both of my accounts. I think that previous searches and views of images must automatically have been saved as I don't recall ever saving any.
I have some odd things in My Records - many don't seem to relate to any families I am researching (possibly they were look ups for others?).
I think there is an option to print or download each image. I will probably have to go through and do that. Not so bad for me as an occasional user - I don't have millions of records saved, but I can imagine it would be an impossible task for many users and lapsed members.
I thought FindMyPast were a bit sneaky changing and making the 'opt in'/'opt out' option for membership renewal more complicated and confusing, to "trick" people into paying for annual memberships. This is yet another cash grab.
It leaves a bad taste I think .... >:(
Added: jaybelnz, that is SO frustrating! I think those points are often a bit of a scam, and they make it intentionally difficult to redeem.
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I'm still wandering around muttering some very bad words about both of them! 😱😱
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I'm still wandering around muttering some very bad words about both of them! 😱😱
Depending on how determined you are, it might be worth kicking up a fuss and trying to get your points extended because it was a fault on their system that prevented you from redeeming. And it is the 30th - don't you have until tomorrow? I think you might find if you want to book a flight for example that there will be no seats available to use the points for the flights you want. I don't understand how it works, but I believe they only allocate a very limited number of seats for air miles type companies. It's a bit of a con I think. ;)
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Another very disappointing change of things today, not genealogy, but a few days ago, I had an email from the Velocity Airpoints people. The email said that I had 11,939 Airpoints due to expire tomorrow, 31st August. (I'd forgotten about them - silly me) So I quickly logged in to spend it pronto - huh? shopping site is temporarily closed for upgrading! I phoned their call centre, spent about an hour on the phone with several different people, all with foreign accents, and no joy as to how I can redeem them, other than booking another flight, and a couple of other stupid things like wait for it - .....buy a cup of coffee at BP service centre, and that would reactivate my points, then I could go shopping! But the shopping is offline at present lady. - and The BP Service centre has to be in Australia. ??? ??? I only just managed to stop myself giving them an earful of Kiwi bad language, and telling them where they could go and what they should do!! GRRR! I even asked them to email me with the options she had given me, but she said "we don't do emails in this department, it's a call centre" 😡😡😡. I'm not at all a Happy Chappy GRRR!
I don't blame you :-X :-X
A couple of years ago, I signed up for a Visa card, for Internet use. They charged the annual fee for a points card, but i had stated on the application form i did not want points. Took about 4 months to sort the b$#$#@rs out and have no points. I dont use it often enough to warrant them.
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Yes, of course those 11,993 points represent a lot of money, but with the shopping options I wanted, like clothing etc., not being currently available, due to updating, she said there was no way for me to spend them in time before tomorrow! I'm still hopping mad about it! 😡😡
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"My Records" are mine. I paid for them.
Only if you used PAYG. In which case you can still access them
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I don't store anything on 'My records' and always download what I want at the time.
The problem with M.R is that every time you look at a record whether for yourself or someone on here it saves it without asking so you end up with lots of records not relevant to your own tree.
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I always download everything from FindMyPast and Ancestry because:
1) I don't trust them to look after my stuff and
2) I just know that they will eventually start charging me for storing and/or accessing it
Ditto cloud data storage companies and free email services. Once you're on the hook they'll all get you in the end by either charging you for the service and/or losing your stuff.
Local storage and multiple backups (including automated daily backup) are my preferred only solution.
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I'm ropable.
I don't currently have a subscription, but over the years I've had several subscriptions, including annual ones.
So it is disappointing that they were happy to take my money for a subscription when I thought one of the benefits of the subscription was that I could access that record at any time in the future, and now they have altered the terms of the subscriptions that I had.
It would be fair enough if they said that any new record that I viewed FROM NOW ON would only be viewable in the future if I had a sub at the time, but this is a change that takes away benefits that were part of my subscriptions. The fact that I could view records later had been one of the pluses of FindMyPast, and a reason I give them a thumbs up when people ask here about whether they should use Ancestry or FindMyPast.
The lack of notice is extremely disappointing. I'd need several days at home just to ensure I'd downloaded the most important one, but I'm on holiday in the UK and have sights to see and places to go.
I think it is very underhand.
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I couldn't agree with you more Hurworth. You have put into words what I thought when I received their email yesterday.
I didn't renew my subscription with FindMyPast lately as I have a full subscription with Ancestry and decided not to renew with FindMyPast. I was sorry not to have the benefit of the 1939 records but found them on Ancestry UK. I don't remember when this was announced as I often log in to Ancestry Com which doesn't show them.
I am disgusted with FindMyPast's tactics.
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Thank you Ruskie for this information.
I was just looking at my saved records on Find My Past last night and was a bit daunted by the quantity and the lack of "searchability".However I was pleased that such a facility existed. But at the back of my mind I wondered how long this might exist.
I have sent a message to Find My Past regarding their change of policy.
Will I get a reply??
Andrew
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"My Records" are mine. I paid for them.
I don't think so.
If the records are on their site then what you paid for is permission to access parts of their site. You have not paid for the records, only for the ability to view them.
If you choose to download the records then they are yours to do with what you will (within the bounds of the law and copyright).
I can understand that people are upset at the loss of a facility that they once had, but realistically, if the record is so important to you, why have you not downloaded it already?
If a person only has a free membership, or one of their £1 week-end memberships, then they are getting exactly the level of service that they paid for.
Regards
Chas
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For quite a while I only had an iPad, which you cannot download records to, hence why I haven't downloaded everything.
I will be able to still access many of the records at our local library, but not newspapers (BNA)
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I received the email and am not happy about it either. I feel it is a money making scheme on their part.
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Reply from Find My Past
Find my past
Email from the Findmypast Team
Karen Alla
Karen Allan (Findmypast )
Aug 30, 12:18 PM BST
Dear Andrew,
Thank you for your e mail.
The records that you have viewed in your Findmypast account previously
These changes are in line with standard practices within most subscription businesses and with other family history websites.
We are telling you about the changes now so you have time to download and keep any records you want to.
The changes will come in to effect later in September (at a date to communicated), and from that point you will only be able to view records that are included within an active subscription
Thank you again for your feedback. This has been shared with the relevant personnel within Findmypast.
Regards
Karen
Findmypast Support Team
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So in other words, they are saying:
"Tough ... everyone else does it so we're going to do it too. At least we are giving you some notice."
>:(
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I'm a current FindMyPast member and haven't had an email. But I have to admit that I rarely remember to use the 'my records' section anyway ::)
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I received the email and am not happy about it either. I feel it is a money making scheme on their part.
I have not received the email, probably because I have a subscription. Are you saying that you are not able to get into F M P and save these records before the end of September unless you pay for a 'sub' :-\
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Hi Rosie,
As I understand it the records are still available to download until a date in September yet to be announced. As pointed out earlier any relevant records would probably have been already downloaded by researchers as a precaution. But it was good to have previous searches should further information come to light.
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But it was good to have previous searches should further information come to light.
At least they are giving people a chance to save them then :)
The trouble with F M P is that every record you look at goes into 'My records' so you need to be methodical and remove those that are not relevant on a regular basis. I have just looked at mine and there are over 500 records 'saved' automatically, I will never use that as a storage source as it would take forever to find anything ;D
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The trouble with F M P is that every record you look at goes into 'My records' so you need to be methodical and remove those that are not relevant on a regular basis. I have just looked at mine and there are over 500 records 'saved' automatically, I will never use that as a storage source as it would take forever to find anything ;D
Just looked at mine - I have 1407 pages with 20 records on each, going back to January 2011. Don't think I've ever referred back to any of them in all that time. I've always saved images etc as I've gone along.
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I should have said pages, not records ;D I clear mine out quite often so I hate to think how many there would be if I hadn't.
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I always download everything from FindMyPast and Ancestry because:
1) I don't trust them to look after my stuff and
2) I just know that they will eventually start charging me for storing and/or accessing it
Couldn't agree more. I was a customer of FindMyPast for a few years but didn't know about 'My Records' storing all my old searches until about a year ago when it was mentioned on RC. There were nearly 20,000 :o and yes, I went through the lot and saved/deleted as necessary. My sub lapsed in January, largely because of their shocking approach to 'Customer Service'.
This looks like an attempt to make retrospective/retroactive changes to the terms of existing contracts between FindMyPast and their customers. My knowledge of English contract law isn't up-to-date, but I wouldn't have thought this was legal. (Of course they can do what they like in respect of future contracts.)
Would anyone with relevant legal qualifications care to comment?
Carol
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There are several posts along this line on their facebook page.
The email has only been sent to those without a current sub.
Those with subs will be notified later.
They haven't decided yet when this will actually take place in September. Being cynical, they are most probably expecting lots of people to take notice of this and start going through possibly causing a surge on their servers. It doesn't seem to take much these days to break the site.
If you looked as a PayAsYouGo customer then you will be able to keep those you looked at under those terms.
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I don’t have a current subscription,but I have had this email. I have messaged them,I am very very annoyed. I have 161 pages of records stored on there, but due to a change in my circumstances,I cannot afford a monthly direct debit with them. Also I purchased those records in good faith that I would always be able to access them. Now they have changed the goalposts and are holding my records to ransom. I haven’t the time to go through 161 pages to extract what I need and it would be a vast task anyway . I like to be able to look up someone again and know that having previously paid for their record I can view it again. Also why should PAYG customers have preferential treatment, we have all paid.
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Even though I've not had the email, I'm frantically saving the important records (even though I'm sure I saved them already) just in case the first saves went missing.
One promise that they will have broken, that this saving won't help with, is that the records would be updated - i.e. newly unredacted people are supposed to appear on your saved records. I've not had a chance to test this, but my father was due to appear quite soon.
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This looks like an attempt to make retrospective/retroactive changes to the terms of existing contracts between FindMyPast and their customers. My knowledge of English contract law isn't up-to-date, but I wouldn't have thought this was legal. (Of course they can do what they like in respect of future contracts.)
Would anyone with relevant legal qualifications care to comment?
Carol
Findmypast Ts&Cs, which all their customers agree to, state:
" 20.Our right to amend Records
We reserve the right to make changes to the Records and services we offer on the Site without notice at any time. "
So yes they are quite within their rights.
Simon
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FindMyPast are actually aligning the policy to be the same as Ancestry's, namely with no subscription you cannot view records you have previously viewed, and that has I think always been Ancestry's policy (definitely for quite some years). I'm surprised in many ways that its taken them this long to do this.
As has been posted previously, you pay the sub to have access to the records, you don't actually purchase a copy of the records from either site unless you use PAYG credits. I've not had a FindMyPast sub for several years, although my mother does. I do have some FindMyPast credits which expire in October but which I may not actually get to use up completely as have only been using them for Worldwide records on the site. There is no real incentive for me to purchase any more credits to extend them since they restricted the duration the credits are active. If I want access to any non UK records, I can view them at an LDS FHC who have access to the site.
While it may have been fairer if they had implemented the policy for all new viewed records, I suspect that this may not have been that easily to implement, hence the blanket ban.
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I also got the email yesterday- am not a current subscriber.
My friend who does have a subscription has not received this notification and was shocked when I showed it to her
As a consequence I spent a couple of hours printing (or REprinting as there is not enough time to open all folders to be certain that each record was originally printed) only to discover that my printer had run dry of ink - and didn't notify me. So....many blank pages! And very little time left apparently to check everything
I have always congratulated. FindMyPast for allowing access to previous records that have painstaking been discovered even when you are no longer a subscriber. It is easy to accumulate loads and if the printer , upstairs, has switched itself off, to promise yourself that you will print in the morning and forget.
I thought it was great customer service and a reason to promote them
That alone would make me loyal to them, when I was looking for a subscription site, (and that their Staffordshire records are excellent. )
Ask me what I think now......It seems to me there are far too many complaints about subscription sites these days. Few companies deserve loyalty. Back to the Record Offices
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I notice that if you have a subscription you are not receiving this email.
When are they going to let their Loyal subscribers know that if they do not renew they will lose their saved Records.
If it is a new Policy you would think everyone would be notified.
Just saying.
Carol
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I notice that if you have a subscription you are not receiving this email.
When are they going to let their Loyal subscribers know that if they do not renew they will lose their saved Records.
If it is a new Policy you would think everyone would be notified.
Just saying.
Carol
In some ways that could be worse. If you decided to stop subscribing you may not have enough time to extract any records you have not saved.
I wonder if they will wait till a current subscriber says they wish to quit their subscription before they tell them?
I have never thought to save any of the images I have in "My Records". Luckily I don't have many so it is not a huge task for me.
I don't see why they are being vague about the date either - "some time in September" is not really good enough. If they gave a definite date at least people would know where they stand.
Two or three weeks notice isn't much time for people who have been subscribers for years and have accumulated pages of records to sort through all of it.
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According to Who Do You Think You are Magazine via a link on their Facebook page the new policy comes into effect on 1 October, confirmed by FindMyPast. I wonder if this has been clarified because of a lot of complaints ....
I've always saved a copy of any viewed document on either Ancestry or FindMyPast that I've wanted to keep. Never crossed my mind to use that facility for saving, but I suppose that's because I don't use the tree facility on Ancestry and save records that way, I've always kept my trees offline and downloaded copies of documents I've wanted to keep. I accept others work differently to me but as I've posted previously, the subs were for access to the records not to purchase individual copy records. For the latter you would expect to retain access, which is what has been said by FindMyPast about those purchased by PAYG credits.
That said, they should really have notified subscribers of the change with notice too, as a non-subscriber I have received the email but would have expected all to have received it.
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"I notice that if you have a subscription you are not receiving this email.
When are they going to let their Loyal subscribers know that if they do not renew they will lose their saved Records"
"In some ways that could be worse. If you decided to stop subscribing you may not have enough time to extract any records you have not saved.
I wonder if they will wait till a current subscriber says they wish to quit their subscription before they tell them?"
Very strange indeed & yes it could be worse...'scaremongering' comes to mind :(
Annie
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For quite a while I only had an iPad, which you cannot download records to, hence why I haven't downloaded everything.
I will be able to still access many of the records at our local library, but not newspapers (BNA)
Maybe you could either take screenshots or copy and past your records into your iPad notebook??
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I got this and like others slightly annoyed that the email got sent 1 day before the cut off.
Further reading of the email suggests this is going to be a slight annoyance
1. Because its nice to refer back every now and then
2. In searching you can see the tick of previous 'look ups' to save time.
But on further reading I just have to subscribe at some later point to view them
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But on further reading I just have to subscribe at some later point to view them
I don't trust them. I wouldn't be surprised if you will be compelled to take out an annual subscription to view your previous searches - maybe they won't be viewable on free weekends, on £1 month subs (if they ever offer these again), or with credits or monthly subscriptions?
Similar to the 1939 register only being available to view with an annual subscription. :-\
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But on further reading I just have to subscribe at some later point to view them
I don't trust them. I wouldn't be surprised if you will be compelled to take out an annual subscription to view your previous searches - maybe they won't be viewable on free weekends, on £1 month subs (if they ever offer these again), or with credits or monthly subscriptions?
Similar to the 1939 register only being available to view with an annual subscription. :-\
Can only hope.
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I have just looked at My Records on both of my accounts. I think that previous searches and views of images must automatically have been saved as I don't recall ever saving any.
I have some odd things in My Records - many don't seem to relate to any families I am researching (possibly they were look ups for others?).
I think there is an option to print or download each image. I will probably have to go through and do that. Not so bad for me as an occasional user - I don't have millions of records saved, but I can imagine it would be an impossible task for many users and lapsed members.
I thought FindMyPast were a bit sneaky changing and making the 'opt in'/'opt out' option for membership renewal more complicated and confusing, to "trick" people into paying for annual memberships. This is yet another cash grab.
It leaves a bad taste I think .... >:(
Added: jaybelnz, that is SO frustrating! I think those points are often a bit of a scam, and they make it intentionally difficult to redeem.
Instead of moaning about FindMyPast or indeed any other record provider why don't you moan about the EU politicians who have caused this and other similar problems.
As the legal advisors are getting their heads round "privacy" legislation such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) they are of the view that recording previous viewing and retaining records could be in breach of the above and similar legislation.
The easiest way to reduce the risk is to remove any saved records from the lapsed accounts of previous subscribers.
You cannot have it both ways you either support the current paranoia about "privacy", agree with the legislation and congratulate FindMyPast etc. or you disagree with the legislation but congratulate FindMyPast etc. for complying with the law even if they may disagree with it. In which case you should write to your MPs and MEPs in an effort to change bad law.
Cheers
Guy
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Instead of moaning about FindMyPast or indeed any other record provider why don't you moan about the EU politicians who have caused this and other similar problems.
As the legal advisors are getting their heads round "privacy" legislation such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) they are of the view that recording previous viewing and retaining records could be in breach of the above and similar legislation.
The easiest way to reduce the risk is to remove any saved records from the lapsed accounts of previous subscribers.
If its to do with GDPR then why has Ancestry been restricting such access for years then? GDPR was known about for some time prior to it coming into effect, so why now and not when it first was implemented since that's when many of the cautious changes were made for privacy reasons. Its all very well rubbishing GDPR and ignoring the benefits in favour of the negativities (and there are benefits) but it could also quite possibly be down to the fact that FindMyPast seen an opportunity to perhaps increase subscription sales by removing that feature. With the 1939 Register now on other sites, that's removed a major plus for subscribing to the site.
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I wonder if anyone had actually gone in to My Records in 2018 before the email (apart from to delete them). 2017?
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Ooooohhhhhhhh! I've got 1140 pages of records :o
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I wonder if anyone had actually gone in to My Records in 2018 before the email (apart from to delete them). 2017?
My records isn't searchable, which I realised when a record disappeared from FindMyPast for a short time once and a helpful member of staff reassured me it would be in MyRecords. I doubt it was there but the record I was after reappeared in the index a short time later.
I access these records from whatever record set I originally found them in. If I'd seen them before they'd have a black tick beside them.
I've never seen any reason to remove records that I don't think are my family as sometimes a seemingly unconnected family does turn out to be connected afterall.
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Instead of moaning about FindMyPast or indeed any other record provider why don't you moan about the EU politicians who have caused this and other similar problems.
As the legal advisors are getting their heads round "privacy" legislation such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) they are of the view that recording previous viewing and retaining records could be in breach of the above and similar legislation.
No help to me. I live in New Zealand.
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Can't see that this is anything to do with GDPR, this is nearly all historical stuff. Now, if they removed the UK Electoral Rolls 2002 - 2014 from the site, that might be GDPR - that makes modern people identifiable. Except that since it's already online, the advice seems to be that that's OK - apparently names and addresses in old parish magazines are not seen as a problem either, but that going forward, permission to put stuff like that in magazines has to be obtained in writing.
Seems you can do what you like with data - as long as the subjects have agreed beforehand. Companies House displays full names, addresses (although you can use a company office to disguise that), and year and month of birth, online, and tell us it's because it's a public register, that they have to do so. My name, address and phone number are also on display on the Charity Commission website, as contact for a charity I'm a trustee of.
No, I think this has far more to do with money than GDPR.
All that's useful about My Records for me is that little black tick that tells me I've already seen that one! If I really want it, I take a copy, just like I would at a Record Office. Otherwise I'm really not interested.
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Ooooohhhhhhhh! I've got 1140 pages of records :o
I've just discovered I've got 2227 pages, but they only go back to 2010, which I think was when there was all the problem with moving to new server and many subscribers were without access for several days. All my very old records which required the somewhat cumbersome Deja vue viewer have gone.
I have been a subscriber to FindMyPast for a lot longer than 8 years, right back to early days of 1837online.
I haven't received the email from them about my records, just checked spam as well.
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Can't see that this is anything to do with GDPR, this is nearly all historical stuff. Now, if they removed the UK Electoral Rolls 2002 - 2014 from the site, that might be GDPR - that makes modern people identifiable. Except that since it's already online, the advice seems to be that that's OK - apparently names and addresses in old parish magazines are not seen as a problem either, but that going forward, permission to put stuff like that in magazines has to be obtained in writing.
Seems you can do what you like with data - as long as the subjects have agreed beforehand. Companies House displays full names, addresses (although you can use a company office to disguise that), and year and month of birth, online, and tell us it's because it's a public register, that they have to do so. My name, address and phone number are also on display on the Charity Commission website, as contact for a charity I'm a trustee of.
No, I think this has far more to do with money than GDPR.
All that's useful about My Records for me is that little black tick that tells me I've already seen that one! If I really want it, I take a copy, just like I would at a Record Office. Otherwise I'm really not interested.
It actually has everything to do with GDPR (Have you read the regulations?) as although the records are historic, your accessing the records is part of your current profile.
Whilst you are a subscriber you have given permission for the search and the records to be aligned with your name, as soon as your subscription ends there is no legal reason for the company to keep that record of your usage and they must therefore legally remove your record of usage, it comes under "data minimisation practices.
Companies now have to be able to demonstrate they have appropriate data minimisation practices in line with new accountability obligations.
As the ICO states "Also bear in mind that the GDPR says individuals have the right to complete any incomplete data which is inadequate for your purpose, under the right to rectification. They also have right to get you to delete any data that is not necessary for your purpose, under the right to erasure (right to be forgotten)."
Cheers
Guy
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As Prawn has done, the simplest thing to do is to either download or print whatever records you are interested in.
This is what I do and I also regularly go through My Records deleting the pages so that they don't build up. Anything that I wanted I would have already saved or printed.
I hardly think we are going to get a mass uprising from their graves of long dead ancestors saying "Excuse me but would you mind deleting that record that you have about me? It has rather personal information on it." ::)
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I took out a month's subscription a few days ago as I had a little breakthrough which meant that I could make some progress with the help of a certain set of parish registers.
And a day or two later I got that email.
I've been snipping and saving each relevant record as I go, so I've no need to look in 'My Records'. I've always saved as much as I can so it's available to me outside of the originating sites.
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my subscription is due in the middle of September. I have decided not to renew because very little new information is being added that is relevent to my family history, and i can now accesss it from my local library, when i altered the auto renewal, i too, got the message that i wouldn’t be able to see my records. fortunately there were only 13 pages to plough through but one or two already had n/a at the side of them. i clicked on one by mistake and the information came up so i quickly downloaded it. i have downloaded all the relevent records and some that i wasn’t sure of with a view to looking at them in my own time and then visiting the library to verify if necessary. some of the records mostly transcriptions didn’t seem to have a download option. it took me a little time to find out that they had to be saved as a pdf file.
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I have found I have 68 pages in my records . Hadn't a clue they were there. Oh well, better start checking .....
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I hadn't a clue they were there either and I have 550 records, better start going through them.
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A while ago I did think to myself that they may be thinking "Why let people who have previous subs for us access previously viewed records as it will stop us making money when we can make the buy a sub to view them?". Maybe me just being a cynic but even so, I do feel they are thinking of profit over anything else.
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My sub to FindMyPast expired on 1st sept, I had the 12 month British sub which is no longer offered to new subscribers, but can still be purchased by those who already have this type of sub. I had my account set to auto renew and a valid card saved, because I wanted to keep this type of sub as it includes newspaper, whereas the Pro is British records and no newspapers, and the Plus includes newspapers but is world records (all my ancestors from Britain so I wouldn't make much use of it) and is much more expensive.
I did not get an email to tell me my sub was due to expire and the price and it did not auto renew. The first I found out about it was yesterday, when suddenly I discovered I not only had no access to new records but could not view old records either. I contacted FindMyPast customer service and I was able to renew my old type of sub with my loyalty discount. So it was all right after all, but I don't know how long I could have left it before I would have had to have had one of the new subs.
Lucky I wasn't away on holiday when it expired.
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Glad that they renewed your subscription as it was LizzieL. I don't want to lose my old one either so I will watch out for that as it is due soon.
Rosie
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I have 89 pages of records amassed over the course of several years. Since there has never been (as far as I know) a way to classify or put them in any sort of order, trying to find a particular record was always a pain in the a**. I have started to go through them one by one to make sure nothing important is lost.
There are loads of names there that I don't recall at all and are not on my tree. Why I searched for them, I have no idea. ???
I haven't had a paying sub for a long time since I don't like the site and I find that they exaggerate what records they have available. I got no email about this change, so thanks for the info.
Bev
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I am most upset concerning their latest "Rip Off" Tactic, I was a full subs member for years, then when the pension hits you have to trim the fat a little So to speak, FindMyPast being my least favorite site I let them go late last year.
After their email I went in to have a look and I have 978 pages of searches, way to many for me to start going through them and printing off, plus the cost of ink and paper for this amount would be way over the top.
Surely If I paid for an item it is mine ?
Not a happy chappy :-\
Trish
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I thought there would be a lot of people like you Trish - it is most unfair on those who have been long term subscribers but no longer subscribe for whatever reason.
I believe that you will still be allowed to see your list of searches, but you will not be allowed to view any of the documents you have previously downloaded.
It would have been better PR wise if they gave people with hundreds of pages of records an extended period of time to (trudge through and) extract those they wish to keep. If you are a current subscriber the changes don't impact you, and if you are a lapsed subscriber FPM FindMyPast don't care about you or your lost records. A lot of people let a subscription drop with the intention of taking it up again in the future, so they may find that they lose a lot of those people, though they are probably only interested in the continual subscribers anyway.
I think they should have given much more notice of this change - possibly months rather than just a few weeks.
Is there a way to sort through "My Records" to only show the documents you have viewed rather than all of the searches? This might at least give people the chance to copy those (possibly) more important records first. :-\
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Not 100% sure Ruskie but from memory (Which is not as good these days) but I think it goes by the date, and because time is so short for me to do anything properly I will get myself all stressed out and it really isn't worth the hassle.
FindMyPast where never the same after they changed their format and had everyone abandon ship for a while but I stuck with it, the usual thing wipe your feet on the most loyal, after all you are only a number with a $ sign.
Thanks Ruskie :)
Trish
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Although I ever only dipped in and out of FindMyPast I seldom found anything I was looking for on the site, and that included data sets where I thought I would find something. For that reason I never took out an annual subscription.
I preferred the odd month here and there if there was a specific vein of research I happened to need to follow at the time. I think the £1 monthly offers annoyed annual subscribers (which I can understand), but I admit to signing up for those, but most of the time I didn't get my £1s worth (ie I didn't use the site). :)
Yes, I think the records are listed newest first, oldest further back in the pages of searches.
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If you are a current subscriber the changes don't impact you, and if you are a lapsed subscriber FPM don't care about you or your lost records.
Ruskie,
Your 'typo' made me laugh, very apt...Forget Past Memories...you no longer have access!!! ;D
Annie
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If you are a current subscriber the changes don't impact you, and if you are a lapsed subscriber FPM don't care about you or your lost records.
Ruskie,
Your 'typo' made me laugh, very apt...Forget Past Memories...you no longer have access!!! ;D
Annie
oops. That will teach me to rush. :)
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Is there a way to sort through "My Records" to only show the documents you have viewed rather than all of the searches? This might at least give people the chance to copy those (possibly) more important records first. :-\
'My records' are the documents you have viewed. It does indicate whether you have just looked at the transcript or the actual document. I think they have modified that too as you could see if you had looked at both the image and the transcript .
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I contacted FindMyPast customer service and I was able to renew my old type of sub with my loyalty discount. So it was all right after all, but I don't know how long I could have left it before I would have had to have had one of the new subs.
Lucky I wasn't away on holiday when it expired.
You are allowed a 30 day period after the lapse of you subscription to renew and keep your loyalty discount, probably a reasonable period allowing for holidays etc.
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I was aware of "my records" but never really trusted it when I had a sub with FindMyPast. I always saved everything to my PC. I now use Ancestry and FindMyPast in the library saving anything interesting on a flash drive. I have a library folder on my PC where I put the records from each visit to the library. Each folder in "Library" has a date so I can look at each day's records. Each individual record is named so I can use search to find whatever I'm looking for.
Blue
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I was aware of "my records" but never really trusted it when I had a sub with FindMyPast. I always saved everything to my PC. I now use Ancestry and FindMyPast in the library saving anything interesting on a flash drive. I have a library folder on my PC where I put the records from each visit to the library. Each folder in "Library" has a date so I can look at each day's records. Each individual record is named so I can use search to find whatever I'm looking for.
Blue
I wish i was that organised ;D. I've just got a massive folder called family History on my PC with everything dumped in, with names that seem gibberish only days after I've saved them.
I wish FindMyPast had a an icon to say which images I'd downloaded as well as those I had just viewed.
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A lot of people let a subscription drop with the intention of taking it up again in the future, so they may find that they lose a lot of those people, though they are probably only interested in the continual subscribers anyway.
By contrast I think Ancestry are well aware that after several years of subscribing, many people drop out for a while because they have got as far as they can with the resources available. I find they regularly offer me a short-term cut-price deal, which I usually accept if they have new records relevant to me. They seem to have a good understanding of our needs in that respect.
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Is there a way to sort through "My Records" to only show the documents you have viewed rather than all of the searches? This might at least give people the chance to copy those (possibly) more important records first. :-\
'My records' are the documents you have viewed. It does indicate whether you have just looked at the transcript or the actual document. I think they have modified that too as you could see if you had looked at both the image and the transcript .
I had a quick look at some of My Records the other day. Some are transcripts and some are images. I'm not sure if there is a difference in icon to show that. I will check again.
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I haven't had a paying sub for a long time since I don't like the site and I find that they exaggerate what records they have available..
Bev
I feel they do exaggerate as well as lots of their records are merely indexes or transcriptions, and even some of the post 1754 marriages (where the originals should give 2 witnesses) are transcripts from Bishops Transcripts instead of the original register. Many BT's of 1754-onwards marriages just are a list of the marriages that year with name and date, all other info is omitted. Witness names for marriages 1754 onwards in original PR's are to me very, very vital and crucial.
FindMyPast Fridays also say "exciting new records" for a certain county but many of them are just a fraction of what is out there. And a lot of them are American, Australian or Canadian records instead of UK records.
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That has been my experience too Coombs. Some of their data sets are available elsewhere free too.
Still, many people seem to find FindMyPast very good. I suppose I just have not persevered enough.
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That has been my experience too Coombs. Some of their data sets are available elsewhere free too.
Still, many people seem to find FindMyPast very good. I suppose I just have not persevered enough.
I admit it does have many good things does FindMyPast. I guess it is a mixed bag, some good records and some not so good. I do like their North Yorkshire records which are original PR's so very helpful. They do have good London records, especially Westminster, and Oxfordshire wills, but i think when British Origins closed, their records was transferred to FindMyPast including Phillimores Marriages.
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Is there a way to sort through "My Records" to only show the documents you have viewed rather than all of the searches? This might at least give people the chance to copy those (possibly) more important records first. :-\
'My records' are the documents you have viewed. It does indicate whether you have just looked at the transcript or the actual document. I think they have modified that too as you could see if you had looked at both the image and the transcript .
I had a quick look at some of My Records the other day. Some are transcripts and some are images. I'm not sure if there is a difference in icon to show that. I will check again.
I have posted an image on my earlier post , the camera is the image and the one to the right is the transcript. The one to the left of the camera is where you can indicate whether it is relevant to you.
As for comparing Ancestry with FindMyPast I think they are as bad as each other for implying what is on their databases. If you believe all that Ancestry says in its advertising you would not need any other databases than theirs to complete your tree. ::) I have a sub with both and don't keep any copies of documents that I find relevant to my research on either site, I always download them.
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Anything I want to keep, such as parish register entries, I use the Windows snipping tool. Outline the extract I want and save it as a jpg image - it's very quick and useful.
If it's a larger image, like a will, I download it, but the snip is good for short extracts.
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I haven't had a paying sub for a long time since I don't like the site and I find that they exaggerate what records they have available..
Bev
I feel they do exaggerate as well as lots of their records are merely indexes or transcriptions, and even some of the post 1754 marriages (where the originals should give 2 witnesses) are transcripts from Bishops Transcripts instead of the original register. Many BT's of 1754-onwards marriages just are a list of the marriages that year with name and date, all other info is omitted. Witness names for marriages 1754 onwards in original PR's are to me very, very vital and crucial.
FindMyPast Fridays also say "exciting new records" for a certain county but many of them are just a fraction of what is out there. And a lot of them are American, Australian or Canadian records instead of UK records.
I went to FindMyPast because they said they had the Worcestershire parish records, which at the time I couldn't find anywhere else.
Actually they only have four parishes' worth of baptisms and marriages and three of burials.
Luckily FreeReg is increasing its Worcestershire coverage all the time now :)
Bev
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I was aware of "my records" but never really trusted it when I had a sub with FindMyPast. I always saved everything to my PC. I now use Ancestry and FindMyPast in the library saving anything interesting on a flash drive. I have a library folder on my PC where I put the records from each visit to the library. Each folder in "Library" has a date so I can look at each day's records. Each individual record is named so I can use search to find whatever I'm looking for.
Blue
With Ancestry you can email yourself the information, and when you get home, you can get all the information you looked at, at the library. That way, there is no chance of loosing the flash drive, as I have done :'( :'( :'( :-[ :-[ :-X
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I've have paid FindMyPast for several lots of 300 points worth of views since April this year (because I don't like regular subscriptions that I might not use) so I only have 10 pages of records. I've just spent 6.5 hours downloading and naming the files and I will be downloading everything I view from now on.
What's fascinated me though is the large number of you who have swapped from FindMyPast to Ancestry. I know this is off-topic but I'd really like to know why.
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Thanks Sloe Gin - I will try snipping. :)
Thanks rosie - I understand some of the icons but have never used the one which I can indicate which record is relevant to me. (I have not had a chance to thoroughly check all My Records yet)
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I've have paid FindMyPast for several lots of 300 points worth of views since April this year (because I don't like regular subscriptions that I might not use) so I only have 10 pages of records. I've just spent 6.5 hours downloading and naming the files and I will be downloading everything I view from now on.
Speedwell if you've paid for credits rather than a subscription, then you will retain ongoing access to those records. The change only applies to records viewed with a subscription. The difference being that you used the credits to pay to view the individual records, while a subscription allows you access to view everything covered by the level of subscription and you don't have to confirm you agree to use the number of credits to view each record.
That said, its probably still wise to download them anyway.
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I haven't had a paying sub for a long time since I don't like the site and I find that they exaggerate what records they have available..
Bev
I feel they do exaggerate as well as lots of their records are merely indexes or transcriptions, and even some of the post 1754 marriages (where the originals should give 2 witnesses) are transcripts from Bishops Transcripts instead of the original register. Many BT's of 1754-onwards marriages just are a list of the marriages that year with name and date, all other info is omitted. Witness names for marriages 1754 onwards in original PR's are to me very, very vital and crucial.
FindMyPast Fridays also say "exciting new records" for a certain county but many of them are just a fraction of what is out there. And a lot of them are American, Australian or Canadian records instead of UK records.
I went to FindMyPast because they said they had the Worcestershire parish records, which at the time I couldn't find anywhere else.
Actually they only have four parishes' worth of baptisms and marriages and three of burials.
Luckily FreeReg is increasing its Worcestershire coverage all the time now :)
Bev
Oh yes they say "new records for Kent" when it is just 1 parish. Or just some monumental inscriptions when many of our ancestors were buried in unmarked graves. Maybe I am expecting too much but when you live a long way from the counties my ancestors lived in, and what with genealogy being very popular, the more bulk records online the better.
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Thanks Smudwhisk,
I thought I hadn't seen the email - still better safe than sorry.
I did consider a subscription but I tend to binge on my genealogy for a few weeks and then ease off for a few weeks so paying for credits did seem the best way. Mind you I was a bit shocked that it was 70 credits for the 1939 Register! You can bet I downloaded that one first.
I think my main criticism is that the 'hints' take you to the transcript when I prefer to see the image.
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Hey Ruskie, I know it's a while since this thread was updated but I totally agree with you and have sent a mail to FindMyPast regarding my displeasure. As you will know the change takes place on 30th Sept and to look at My records after that, i will have to buy some credits. I've never had a subscription as I don't use it very much but probably have about 80 stored records. As others have said, I have paid to display these records therefore I don't see why I should pay more just to redisplay them. To me, it's like buying a television and being told that I can't watch it unless I pay more. It's a big con. I have also raised the question of legality regarding this change but it's all down to money as ever.
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To me, it's like buying a television and being told that I can't watch it unless I pay more.
You do pay your TV licence fee, don't you? Every year?
Regards
Chas
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To me, it's like buying a television and being told that I can't watch it unless I pay more.
You do pay your TV licence fee, don't you? Every year?
Regards
Chas
No.
(There is no TV licencing in Australia). :)
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Ho ho Chas, I never thought of that one. I obviously need a better analogy.
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Cor, lucky you Ruskie. Unless you are over 75 us Brits have to cough up £150.50p yearly for our TV licence. For that money you tend to get quite a bit in the way of repeats as well. >:( ::)