Protect your genealogical information
Learn how to publish family data online more safely
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The Internet is a great place to share genealogical information about your own or someone else's family, but be aware that this information could be used by identity thieves searching for personal data to hijack your credit, or by scam artists who want to sell your own information back to you bundled as a cheaply made book or software program. (There are legitimate companies that can package your genealogical data professionally. Check with reputable genealogical groups for more information).
Tip: To learn more about common genealogy scams that you should avoid, read Smarter genealogy on the Net.
Remove personal information
If you decide to publish genealogical data online for others to enjoy, you should remove any personal information of all members shown, which includes:
| • | Full names (use only initials when possible) |
| • | Social Security numbers |
| • | Complete dates of birth (show only the year instead) |
| • | Specific home addresses of family members, including former addresses |
| • | Phone numbers |
| • | E-mail addresses |
| • | Private affiliations, such as fraternities and sororities |
| • | Private holdings, such as real estate or deeds of trust |
Don't give away potential passwords
Also, chances are that someone in your family has used another family member's name (either the human or animal variety) as a password itself. It's a common practice for online businesses such as credit card companies to use maiden names or pet names as a method to retrieve forgotten passwords, so it's a good idea to remove these references entirely.
Tip: To learn how to create more secure passwords for all of your online accounts, read Creating stronger passwords.
Create a private community
To help keep your genealogical information confidential, one solution is to publish family trees, histories, and photos on one of the many online communities that offer private Web space secured with a password, for example MSN Groups. You can then share this password-protected community privately with family or friends.
