Facebook icon on sign-in page
What is with the Facebook icon on the sign-in page? What is the purpose? Please explain. I don't really want Facebook to have access to my FamilySearch account.
Best Answers
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Some of this has been explained but I still wanted to alleviate some of the concerns.
First, this is only an option. You don't have to use it. You can continue to login the way you always have.
This feature allows a user to login with a known username and password. As stated by another user, it is useful and comfortable for some users to login via something familiar that has already vetted your identity.
Second, it is currently only available for new accounts.
Third, from the knowledge article:
"A free FamilySearch account provides wider access to resources on the FamilySearch website. Now new accounts have the option of using their Facebook sign-in information to create a free FamilySearch account.
If you use this option, your privacy remains protected:
- The only thing Facebook knows is that you used your Facebook username and password to sign in to FamilySearch. No additional information about you or your family history is shared.
- FamilySearch does not post any content to your Facebook feed unless you share it intentionally."
Your information and data from both Facebook and FamilySearch stay separate and secure in their own spaces. There is no sharing of information. I hope this helps a bit with the concerns.
Sam 🙂
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For those that are panicking about Facebook having access to their FamilySearch information, this is not the case. From what I have gathered, there are a lot of non-church-members that use FamilySearch for their family history. The new Facebook sign in option is no different than signing in with your Church account instead of typing in a username and password. Facebook does not have access to any of the personal information stored upon this website, only your login details as that is how it helps you access the site. This is no different than using your Google account or Facebook account to sign up/sign in for other websites online. It in no way affects the way that your accounts and trees function. If anything, it allows more people to sign up to FamilySearch who were hesitant in the past due to the sign-up procedure. It might make the work we do on this website run quicker so that the ordinances of our ancestors can be completed much faster.
Hope this helps clarify the answer that @Sam Sulser gave you all.
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I saw that too and I am curious.
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Facebook does not have access to your account. This is just a way to help people sign in to FamilySearch. Many apparently find the Facebook login to other sites to be useful to them. You do not have to use it yourself.
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adds to the confusion, for sure.
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@melville,dl For some who have been using FamilySearch for many years the facebook sign-in will be confusing, but many others (especially in other countries) already trust facebook and don't know anything about FamilySearch. For those people, the facebook sign-on will be valuable. Remember that FamilySearch is built to be accessible (both coding-wise and legally) throughout the entire world.
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As you can read in the help center article, at this time only new accounts can set themselves up to use their existing Facebook login and password. Existing accounts cannot. That sign on with Facebook option is all over the internet. I doubt many new users will be confused. Existing users might be the first time they try and it does not work.
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All I know is: I am a long time user of familysearch, and when the Facebook option showed up on my login page I was confused .... sorry.
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I'm sorry you found this feature confusing and unsettling. You may safely ignore it and sign in as you usually do.
Kind Regards,
Jill
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This is highly alarming to me. Basically the church is advertising for facebook here, which is a horrible site and you don't know what information facebook will have access to. Have you read their user agreements? They claim ownership and control over anything shared and the right to collect (basically spy on) everything people do (more than we are told) and sell it to whoever they want. It's already happened to me with them (and genealogical sites I was required to take in a genealogy class). This included sensitive information regarding my living family members and myself. Our information can be used against us in many ways, with the cancel culture we now live in. Please stop using this feature.
Thank You!
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It concerns me that Facebook, which is so rife with hackers that mimic accounts to gather personal information, has anything at all to do with signing in to FamilySearch accounts through Facebook. Not only is there a lot of personal information in FamilySearch, but it is affiliated with my church account that receives funds from my bank account for donations.
Many people allow their passwords to be remembered. FamilySearch is one big world tree. Even if I don't sign in through Facebook, how can I be assured that it is impossible for a hacker to gain access to someone's login info thru some sort of phishing /malware, then gain access to their FamilySearch account?
Joy
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@JoyBDoyle1 Facebook doesn't get access to the FamilySearch login so they can't store that information. All Facebook does is verify who you are through their login and then let FamilySearch know that your identity from Facebook was verified. That's it. There is no communication between the two platforms of usernames, passwords, or other information. Sam 🙂
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