Are we allowed to reference living individuals against a profile of a deceased person?
Following a discussion on the general issue on the rights of privacy (within FamilySearch) for living persons, I would like to know FamilySearch's guidelines regarding the following situation.
I come across an obituary record on the website (albeit it might be provided via a third party) and attach it to the profile of the deceased person to whom it relates. Am I then allowed to reference the obit (including, say, repeating the names of living persons cited in the attached source) in a Notes item in the Collaboration section?
Previously, I was advised there should not be any public mention in Family Tree of (living) children / grandchildren the deceased might have had, but this really does not make sense if, a click or two away, there are census, obituary and other sources that I have (by FamilySearch invitation) been able to add, and which detail this exact same information on living relatives.
Whilst I would appreciate any contributions by Community members, I am mainly concerned about FamilySearch advice on this issue. I admit I did raise a similar point quite recently, but - sadly - have failed to get any "official" response.
I'm sure it is not only me, but all other users who like to conform to Family Tree's terms and conditions of use, who feel clear, updated guidance must be issued to FT users on this issue.
Answers
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Can I say that I am in 100% agreement with @Paul W on the need for formal FamilySearch clarification on this point please.
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Perhaps if you raise a query to Support, you might get a more informed Staff reply, @Paul W.
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@Paul W have you had any feedback from FS?
The reason I ask is that in the last couple of days I have seen profiles with what appears to be living person information in Life History and Notes respectively. The impression given by the Notes one in particular is that the writer has no idea there might be a problem with publishing other living people's information on the internet.
I feel that ideally there would be a message on the screen reminding people of their responsibilities in this regard.
In the meantime a clear statement of the rules would let us collaborate effectively with the originators of questionable references, and, where appropriate, let us report abuse knowing it would be taken seriously.
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I'm afraid I haven't yet taken up Áine's suggestion on contacting Support. I have had negative experiences in doing that in the past, which has probably put me off the idea. However, I will try to get through tomorrow (am about to look up the contact details from the UK) to see if the matter can be escalated - with a view to clear guidance being published in a Help article.
Update -
Suddenly thought, no time like the present, so gave a ring! Very helpful person on the other end of the line, who has promised to escalate the issue and get back to me within the next couple of days with any response he receives.
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Unfortunately, the only "update" I can provide is that the elder I spoke to has still not returned to me following my call on Tuesday morning (10th Dec.), in spite for saying he would get back to me within a couple of days.
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The new version of the Privacy Notice includes these interesting and clarifying sentences:
You should not, however, attach memories that have Living Data to a deceased person in a public tree. FamilySearch strives to limit the situations in which you can share Living Data in order to comply with applicable laws and to protect the privacy of your relatives.
All memories containing Living Data should be set to “private.”
FamilySearch may, however, make certain personal data obtained from public and historical sources publicly available when permitted by applicable local laws.
FS' definition of Living Data: 'the personal data of a person who is still living', so this is not just sensitive data as discussed elsewhere in the Privacy Notice.
My assumption is that the above gives us the ability to report any public memory containing Living Data as abuse.
What the text does not cover explicitly is people putting Living Data in Discussions/Notes/Alerts (or in the descriptive text added to Sources) on deceased profiles, but I would have thought it was appropriate to approach those in the same way.
Well done @Paul W if your action has made this happen, as seems entirely possible!
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In view of the detail that has been applied to the new Privacy Notice, I could hardly be so presumptuous as to attribute it to my actions! However, you are right in suggesting it is still not quite comprehensive enough in that it is not clear on what should be added (related to the living) in the Collaboration section or in reason statements, etc.
This, for me, includes comments under a heading such as "Children of John and Ann Smith" pointing out, say: "This couple had three further children that are not shown here as they are (assumed to be) still alive."
As I have mentioned previously, a FamilySearch employee once advised that even this non-specific detail (nobody actually named) should be avoided, but FamilySearch does now appear to be leaving examples like this to our own judgment.
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