Geni

[GillianF]

I have been keeping the family tree and archive for my maternal family since the 1980s and we have a family gathering every two years.  Recently, a tech-minded cousin created a tree for us on Geni.  I password protected it and checked the security by asking my children and brother to try access, editing etc.  They couldn't so I was happy it was secure.

In recent months I have been receiving emails from Geni that a chap (Brian) has been adding people and records to 'my' tree.  I contacted him politely and asked how we were related.  He told me that his deceased wife was a niece of my paternal grandmother - so nothing to do with my maternal side and cousins.

Every week I get a long email from Geni telling me how many people and records Brian has added to my tree and I can see that he 'manages' the profiles of 24,000 + people.

I have loaded photos and biographies for my maternal ancestors and have invested considerable time and money in my research for the benefit of my maternal family and not for any random passerby to view and download.

So, how do I approach this and get it back to private, remove my tree permanently or other option?  I am very disappointed with Geni and suspect many of my cousins would object to having all their details so readily/easily available to all and sundry.

I am trying not to rant but am very angry!

Thank you.

[Kingsclere]

The website says it's a collaborative "World Family Tree" so not personal to you. Much the same as FamilySearch.

[GillianF]

I had begun to realise that but I’m sure this was not my/my cousin’s understanding when we started.  We thought it would be visible to anyone but not that anyone without the password could add or change things on it.  It is this chap adding to it and that anyone can view it all (my research, stories, biographies etc.) which is irritating me.

My inclination is to delete all my living relatives but I think I should think on it and canvas the thoughts and feelings of family.

[Kingsclere]

I have no experience of it but did skip through the terms and conditions. Seems that deleting isn’t possible/allowed and everything uploaded becomes geni’s property to share with users. 

[GillianF]

Hmm!  That is quite shocking and I'm sure it is not what we thought when we signed up.  I realise, of course, that anyone can search for birth, marriages and deaths and get information but that takes some effort and investment (buying a certificate) whereas Geni are rather handing everything on a plate to anyone - ne'er do wells etc.

I still feel inclined to delete all living relatives and all the documents and photographs etc. I have loaded.

I'm still interested to hear of anyone else's experiences etc. but thank those replying so far.

[garden genie]

The fact that Geni is a collaborative tree like Familysearch is easily missed. The fact that they are showing living persons details is not good at all. As far as I know none of the other major tree hosters do this. Even Ancestry automatically hides living persons (most of the time). However 'Brian' links to your tree at an earlier person, so it would be worth checking whether 'the public' can in fact see your living relatives, or if you are only seeing them because you are logged in and the system knows you are responsible for them. If they genuinely are visible to anyone then yes I would delete them if you can. Surely that can't be impossible - after all it might be wrong and need correcting! (Hopefully you could change the name to private at the very least.) Good luck.