Gggrrrrrr!! Private Tree on Ancestry photos copied

[Dave Dee]

It is a persons personal choice to do what they want with their research, and Ancestry is for research of their records. Why would you want to use other peoples trees for your research, most of them are flawed in some way.

Hey, you speak for yourself. My tree is perfect. 

[youngtug]

Perfection is to strive for.

[anne_p]

I'm rising to the bait again but for some of you, this may get around your problems with shared photos etc.
Like so many others I provided others with access to my own research which included all documents, photographs etc
I too find that they also pop up all over the place... usually where they don't belong.

On almost a dailly basis, I would receive PMs.
"I can see from your tree that you have a photo/marriage/death cert for a certain person. Can I have access please"
I would respond and ask the contact how she/he is connected.
Very rarely did that person come back with a reply

About 2 years ago, I made a decision
To make my fully documented tree both private and unsearchable!

It means that it cannot be found, not even on an Ancestry search!
No one knows that it exists!

However, every 3 or 4 months, I export a fresh gedcom  from it and upload it to Ancestry.
It's still private but can be found.
As soon as it appears on a search, I delete it's pre- decessor

 The copy tree is still private, but will be found on a search.
As gedcoms cannot transfer images, most contact that I receive now, is genuine.

[msr]

Ancestry is for research of their records.

Exactly YT, that is what we pay the subscription for, access to all the records they have.  Being notified of another member researching the same people is a bonus, collaborating even better. 

Someone mentioned a 2-way street.  In my opinion that is where please and thank you must come in, otherwise it's more like hit and run.

[Dave Dee]

Ancestry is for research of their records.

Exactly YT, that is what we pay the subscription for, access to all the records they have.  Being notified of another member researching the same people is a bonus, collaborating even better. 

Someone mentioned a 2-way street.  In my opinion that is where please and thank you must come in, otherwise it's more like hit and run.

msr, with respect, if the subscriptions we pay to Ancestry are only for access to their records, why do Ancestry permit us to see other people's trees, and, furthermore, allow us to give to or take from them?

[youngtug]

Because they are in business to make money, and the easy way for people to seem to grow their tree is to take it from others who have already done the research.

[Dave Dee]

Because they are in business to make money, and the easy way for people to seem to grow their tree is to take it from others who have already done the research.

But if that's so, the people taking information would complete their trees more quickly than via doing the research themselves (on Ancestry), which would mean they'd be more likely to leave Ancestry sooner. The longer Ancestry can keep them a-searchin', the more money Ancestry would make.

[msr]

I tried to post before yours Annep so have only just read it through properly.

I have never thought of taking a tree to the extreme of being unsearchable, just private.   So anyone who finds that a particular record has been saved by me can make contact to see how I connect to the person they are researching.  I will always answer, and offer further information if warranted, but I will not allow anyone to make me do all the work for them. 

Does that make me selfish, or just circumspect?

Dave Dee, Ancestry allows members the choice of having public or private trees, it does not tell us what we must do.
On second thoughts it does indeed.  It actually says somewhere in the small print not to take personal photos etc without first asking, and as that guideline is not adhered to by everyone it has resulted in some making their trees private.    Documents filmed by Ancestry however are a different matter, anyone with a subscription can find them by endeavour.

[groom]

I don't think that would worry me, as long as my own beloved grandparents were not "slagged off" in any way

I think you have mentioned that twice, so obviously, and understandably, feel strongly about this. However, since your tree is public, you have no control over what anyone who copies it, and adds it to their tree, puts. If they decide your grandfather is a bigamist or your grandmother had several illegitimate children there is nothing you can do about it and that information would then be out there for others to copy and spread.