Gleaning - GR

[sarra]

Well I don't know where to start here -  perhaps I'm getting angry about nothing.
 This is what happened to me.
I'm a member on the GR site and through Hotmatches, have found a few people researching my line.  A few months ago I found a connection to one of my ancestors. I emailed them and we gave each other access to our Trees. I could see a few differences in our research. So I asked if they could help me sort it out. Well I never heard from them again. So I closed my Tree to them as they did to me.
Now I discover that some of the information that was on my Tree, has been entered by this person on the Rootweb.com World Project.  My reason for putting it on the GR site was because you had some say in who you gave access to it. Seems I have been naive in thinking it would not be used outside this site. What I am annoyed about is the fact that this person never came back to me to help sort out our Ancestors - and that he has listed my family on this site.  I'm not happy seeing my late mother-in-laws name on there.  What options do I have?. 
Sarra

[FeeJay]

I haven't got any advice but I just thought I'd send my sympathy. You have every right to be angry.

It never occurred to me that someone would do this. I would hate someone to do this to me.

I'm not sure that you would be able to remove or change this info on Rootsweb. I do hope you can!

FeeJay

[Comosus]

Have they supplied an email on their Rootsweb site?  I managed to find a relative by contacting them by email through rootsweb.

Andrew

[genna]

Hi Sarra

The same thing has happened to me except the whole of my family tree is now on the RootsWeb.com World Project. I only came across it by accident when looking for possible matches for my ancestors. My first reaction was shock and then to think "it would have been nice to have been asked". If I had I would have turned down the offer of having my research put on the internet. I do feel that my work has effectively been hijacked but can't see what I can do about it.

The only consolation is that I have used other peoples websites to help with my own tree so perhaps others will benefit from seeing mine.

Regards Genna

[Paul E]

I really do think its inexcusable for people not to have the common courtesy to at least ask permission from the supplier of information before uploading it to the web for all to see.  This has happened to me a couple of times and it always rankles.

cheers

Paul

[PassionPlay]

I was most surprised when clicking on a 'hot match' a while ago to be faced with myself!

It turned out that the lady who had put me on her tree is related, she had made contact with a cousin who I had given permission to use mine a couple of years ago, he had given her permission to use his... see where I'm going?

My first thought was indeed annoyance, then it occurred to me that I don't ask his permission to share my tree with anyone else so I am as liberal with his related section as he is with mine really, basically anything transferred to mine I assume ownership of and vice-versa.

I should add that I only keep about 100 names on my GR tree, just the direct lines where contact is most welcome and should a contact prove fruitful, they then get all the relevant info by e-mail and I ask them to be discreet with the living if applicable.  If I get info back by e-mail which will be of interest to another relative, then I ask permission of the sender before sharing it. 

I agree it would be courteous to ask first but in a place as public as GR I just don't think it's practical.  If you had shared information with even half a dozen contacts over a period of time, it could be onerous to contact them each time you wanted to open your tree to someone else.

Sorry if I'm waffling, I do agree with you, but it's the nature of the GR beast, you have to share all or nothing.  Although, if you specifically stated that you did not want your details published anywhere else, you might have some leverage if they ignored you.

Steph.

[julianb]

I was most surprised when clicking on a 'hot match' a while ago to be faced with myself!

Genes Reunited do show the following in relation their family tree program:

Please remember to ask permission of living relatives you add to your tree.

You might wish to follow this up with Genes Reunited.  They too surely have a responsibility to police their own system.


JULIAN

[devongirl]

I too have had bad experiences of GenesReunited. One person I gave all my research to put it on the internet within hours Including living people  (which he did remove when I requested it)  but what annoyed me the most was the fact that he was passing on my information without either telling me or passing on the 'new' relatives details to me. I only found out when they contacted me.

On a more positive note, I have also found some very good contacts who have mutually exchanged information and remained in touch.

[suttontrust]

People have a curious attitude to information they glean from GR.  If it's related even vaguely to their family, they can claim it as their own without so much as a by-your-leave.  If we react by not putting more than a couple of names on GR, the whole concept of the site doesn't work.  The only answer is not to give access to your tree, but to swap information by email.  I've recently been researching a friend's tree, and found 2 people through GR who were distantly related to her through one line.  The tree is not on the site because it's not mine.  The first person got huffy when I told her I had several generations more than she had.  She'd not been able to do it, so how had I?  I explained how I'd worked it out and what my evidence was, and pointed her to a website where I've put the tree.  I haven't heard from her again.  The second person had also been stumped, and she has bombarded me with questions, as if I must give her all the data.  It's all part of research, I guess.