You may have seen friends or family complaining on social media about a website making their personal information public to God and everybody. That website is called Family Tree Now, and this is not a drill.
One quick search of my name revealed the following:
- My married name
- My maiden name
- My husband’s name
- My parents’ names
- My in-laws’ names
- My brother’s name
- My sister-in-law’s name
- My current address as well as past addresses, including my college dorm room
- My age
- My birth year
- And my possible associates, one of whom is a friend of mine from college who is in no way related to me or on any of my legal documents
And I’m not the only one whose personal, private information is available for anyone with a device and an internet connection to see.
I typed in my husband’s name, my cousin’s name, and another friend’s name, and it’s all the same. There it was, their private information, ready for the taking.
What’s worse? Some people have reported seeing even more of their information made public, including their kids’ names.
THIS IS NOT OK.
I realize that a lot of our information is available through public records, but still. This feels sneaky, slimy, and voyeuristic. Just the idea that someone I may have a disagreement with can look up my address or my relatives with the click of a button doesn’t sit well with me.
What if someone intends me harm?
What if someone wants to rob my house?
What if someone comes for my kids?
The good news (yes, there is good news) is that you can supposedly delete this information from the site. The steps for doing so are as follows:
- Go to the website and scroll to the bottom
- Click on “Privacy”
- Scroll down to “Opt Out of Living Records” in the Privacy Policy section
- Click on the blue “opt out here” hyperlink
- Search for your name and open your record
- Click on the red “Opt Out” button at the top of your record
It took me about 2 minutes tops.
Opting out of having your information displayed publicly on the site (which is kind of odd given few of us ever opted in) can apparently take up to 48 hours to work.
If you, too, object to having your personal information so readily available to anyone, get yourself over to that site now and opt to have it deleted. And then be sure to pass this along to any friends and family who may want to do the same.