Hello,
Excuse me, but I don't understand this reference:
BTW, if
there is a 75 year limit on what information is to be
published, then why are the dates given from 1935 to
1955? The 1940 Federal census will not be opened to
the public until 2015. Why the double standard?
Please help me understand... what dates from 1935 to 1955? I don't have a
lot of time to search everything, but took a quick look and do not see what
you are talking about here. (Also, it's not 75 yrs., it's 70.)
You speak of the 1940 Census not being public yet. Ok, then why is the
1930 census open? I have cousins and other relatives who are still alive
who were on that Census. Even on the 1920, and I'm sure there are still
some from the 1910 Census who are yet alive. Where do we draw the
line? The rootsweb guidelines sound good for that.
So do we remove all this stuff from the libraries & restrict access to all
courthouse information? Something nearly like that has already been
brought up and many genealogists are fighting against it. It's time we
stopped the thieves instead of harming those who use the information for
historical purposes.
The identity theft will be there with or without genealogical indexes
online. It's now a fact of life. And I have not heard of identity theft
due to information on a genealogical site. Those who decide to destroy
people in that way have access to other databases. For instance, you can
get a background report on a person for just $50 which can include all the
information that can be found on this page
https://find.intelius.com/example-background1.php and more. (Personally, I
find that much, much scarier than what can be found on genealogical
sites.) The $50 would be a small price to pay for someone who plans to rip
off hundreds or thousands of dollars. And much easier and far, far faster
than searching through thousands of names in a birth or marriage index
hoping to find just one that one might be able to use for a stolen
identity. (How far do we take this? Perhaps banks and finance companies
should be held liable for thefts that happen due to unrequested credit aps
being sent to people that end up in the garbage dump which can then be
easily filled out and sent in awarding the thief with a nice new credit
card. I get at least one of those a week!)
I like the guidelines which Rootsweb has proposed and will attempt to
follow them in my genealogical sharing. But I see no purpose in a witch
hunt trying to find every tiny bit of stray info that might have slipped
through. Might be better to stop the background search & report sites like
the one I have cited above. They have a link directly from yahoo.com's
people search. Very easy to find and access. The WPA indexes end at 1920
and can be found in many, many places. Removing them will not so much as
make a dent in the thievery going on... probably won't even effect it at all.
Well... that's my take on the whole thing. Any of it I'm sure can be
argued differently by another person. The Adams Co. GenWeb site as far as
I can see follows the rootsweb proposed guidelines. Looks good to
me. Let's try not to make a mountain out of a molehill, please. And
perhaps the sharing of info on this message board can continue without a
lot of fussin' about others. :-)
Sincerely,
Linda Thomas
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper
you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you
will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You
will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah
29:11-13