Should we include false information?

[polidor]

 Thanks downside, at least i know now.

I put a 'post' on R.Chat several weeks ago about collecting other peoples relatives by mistake (*) 
which is relative [no pun intended] to this post too. Poli


(*)  Moderator Comment:
Topic: Collecting other people's relatives.
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,142272.0.html

[CarolBurns]

I did submit my tree to Ancestry not long after I first started but it is basic and doesn't have half the info it has now. My tree is also on GR but again not up to date just basic.

If anyone contacts me regarding relatives I check through my program and see what I have. If there is a link then we chat about the links and info etc for a while. Once I know they are definite then I will offer them a shareable CD which shows our mutual link.

If people want to copy my basic info on any sites then that is down to them. I do try and warn them that it is basic and not 100% correct but not many listen. I don't mind sharing my info with anyone researching the same family lines - I always have done but there are a few who don't like sharing theirs. I just get on with it then and start to search and get the info myself.

As for the false information - I don't think that is right but yet again I understand why you would want to do it. I know we have all paid out good money for all the research we have done and it is down to our own hard work that this information is neatly laid out for others to see. But it is one of the downsides of uploading to the net that others and some deceitful companies will use the info to their advantage with or without our consent

Carol

[Michael72.]

Don't get me wrong....when I said a 'Bomb', I didn't mean false info...........it's sort of a 'Tweak' that refers back to me alone....

Michael72.

[Guy Etchells]

Tha

Hi Folks

Once upon a time I bought Family Tree Maker and entered data into it - like everyone does.  One day it prompted me to submit my tree to that great database in cyberspace.  I must have been a bit naive because I said OK without thinking about the consequences of what would happen to all my precious and expensive research.  Then in September 2005 I joined GenesReunited and I came across a entry for someone who looked like my grandfather Walter Slater West, except someone had entered it as Walter Statten West - same birth date.  So I sent that person a message and they said they had got the name from ancestry.co.uk and they would write to them to get it corrected.  I then came across another person on GR who also had this Walter Statten West charater in his family tree and he said he had got it from the same source.

So what happens to our data if we submit it to Family Tree Maker?

Should we deliberately invent a fictious person to include in our family trees so we can spot who has stolen/borrowed our data?

downside

all depends whether you wish to be a family historian or a fiction writer.
If the former only add true facts to your on line database.
If a fiction writer invent the whole lot.

If someone uses the data you have collated they have not stolen it, you still have it so why get upset?
Family history is about caring and sharing, if you help others others will help you and everyone benefits.

Yes sometimes people don't ask or say thanks but does it really matter?
Cheers
Guy

[suttontrust]

I would make a distinction between putting our trees out there for anyone to read and make connections, freely, and submitting them, unwittingly, to a company which then uses that information as a commodity for sale.  If we know that that's what's happening, we can choose to do it or not.

[kerryb]

I would agree with that Suttontrust, it's one think helping distant relatives interesting, as we are, in family history, but it is completely another thing if companies are making money out of our research.  Especially when they won't provide their services to us for free!!!

Kerry

[downside]

Hi Guy

You sound like a caring and trusting person judging by the statement you made:-

"Family history is about caring and sharing, if you help others others will help you and everyone benefits."

If some company took all your research and started charging people to view it how would you feel?

downside

[Guy Etchells]

If a company took my research without asking my permission they would be in breach of  database right and/or copyright and I would inform them of the fact.

Apart from that I would not be concerned in the slightest, my information would still be accessible on my website for all to use without any form of payment.
I would still have all my research so there would be no cause for concern.

I would say this, companies such as that which owns Family Tree Maker provide a service and webspace. That service and webspace has to paid for and the method they use is to sell data hosted on their site.
Anyone who uploads a tree to their website agrees for this to be done therefore such individuals have no complaint against the company.
The moral is read the contract before trying to benefit from it.
Cheers
Guy

[kerryb]

Can I just ask what is this Family Tree Maker?  I don't think I have ever come across it anyway!

Kerry