Consumer Privacy Alert - Family tree website REVEALS personal address, family information - for free

I saw this floating around a few news sources and decided to test it.

And WOW! It lists a lot of what I personally would deem as VERY private and personal information that should not just be accessible willy nilly.

Consumer Privacy Alert: Family tree website reveals personal address, family information

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) - Imagine searching your name online and finding all the address and family information you have provided to government entities since you became an adult.

On Tuesday, Snopes.com reported on a family tree website causing a lot of alarm to the general public and, in some cases, concern that police officers were specifically being targeted. A law enforcement Facebook group posted on Jan. 9 a warning to others. However, there is nothing to indicate police officers are being targeted more than anyone else in the general public.

This is legit. We've tested it, my address was in the search, and some of my family was connected to the profile. The amount of info and the accuracy of it is terrifying. Opt out instructions below.

A site advertised as a family history and genealogy site known as FamilyTreeNow.com has been online since 2014, but is suddenly getting a lot of buzz on social media about all the personal information it publishes – but there is good news, you can opt out and have your personal details removed.

Source

Good news is... (purportedly), is that they do offer an opt out option.



Here's the direct link (recommend you do this promptly) - Opt Out

One of the major reasons this has been getting press is due to them frivolously and freely allowing access to said information at no cost and without even having to register to the site.

LEOs are not happy about that and rightly so imo.



I opted out and was given a message to allow for 48 hours for my information to be excluded. We will see if it indeed prevents my info from being displayed.

If you don't want the private information that this site so freely gives then I recommend you opt out asap, and you may want to share this info with friends/family to help them prevent their info from being exposed.

that's sketchy.. especially in this day and age where a lot of criminals use the Web and digital tactics to defraud people.

I'm seeing if my info is on there now. Thanks for letting us know!


ETA: sure enough my info was on there, all of my addresses in the past 9 years, all of my relatives, and even my boss was listed as a "possible associate".

I also opted out!!!!!

a reply to: FamCore

Yeah.. I was a bit shocked at the accuracy myself.

a reply to: UberL33t

I should point out that my information has already been removed. At least they're on top of the opting out.

lol.. that is some accuracy for sure

thx for pointing this out

a reply to: UberL33t

That's funny, because I tried to OPT out of telemarketing calls since I got a cell phone a while ago. I did it on the donotcall.gov website. I still get those calls, at least 1 a month. There are more than one service that keep pretty darned good records on people. I can think of this one and one other that are available, Spokeo.com. This isn't anything "new" so to speak.

A lot of the information they had for me was inaccurate.
They did list (correctly) all of the addresses that I have lived at for the last 30 years, but they also had addresses that were incorrect.
The 'associates' were the least accurate. Most of the people listed there are unknown to me.

Seems to be only for the US.
You guys need better privacy laws. This type of thing is really dangerous.
It's good that there's an opt out, and really good that the OP has brought this to people's attention.

They had all my addresses going back 25 years. Pretty impressive. I had forgotten a couple so I updated my files.

a reply to: butcherguy

What could be creepy about that? What if they put your associates down as questionable types, whether on purpose or by accident? I really think these sort of sites should be illegal. I don't really care what they put on there, but I hope to never see the day when someone is "convicted" for "associating" with the wrong people, identified by a website with inaccurate information. Why do I say this? People have been arrested for something "they posted" allegedly in the past on social media websites...

a reply to: butcherguy

The "associates" for me were completely inaccurate as well. It mostly consisted of my ex-wife's family, whom I have been divorced from nearly 20 years now.

Interestingly, "Gary Johnson" was on top of the list, and the only Gary Johnson I've ever even heard of is the politician, whom I DO happen to agree with on most issues.

This is so messed up. I opted out. Seemed like they had it all pretty correct. Just how many other sites do we have to visit and search ourselves just to opt out. I know of some people who really don't want to be found by some really deadbeat abusive ex husband's and whatnot. Their kids could be in danger kind of thing. This kind of site makes it way too easy for a predator or just anyone that wants to know where someone lives to actually show up.i hope these sites Get sued and shut down. I'm sure there are already plenty of bad things that have happened because of this site.

a reply to: Schwallyjdog

They've been around since 2014 so the chances the info they supply was used maliciously are pretty good.

I have used a Background check site in the past but I also paid for the information and had to register giving my own personal information. The fact they just freely give it away to any Tom, Dick or Harriet that searches for the info is what makes it so unnerving to me.

I am sure there intentions were good.. but people prey on those that have good intent wayyyy to much these days.

Had lots of the ex wife's family listed as associates; her new husband included, some former co-workers, and people of whom I had never heard.

Opted out and will follow up in a couple of days.

a reply to: jadedANDcynical

I was opted out within minutes of the request.. may not have to wait the 48hrs that they specified.

originally posted by: Schwallyjdog
This is so messed up. I opted out. Seemed like they had it all pretty correct. Just how many other sites do we have to visit and search ourselves just to opt out. I know of some people who really don't want to be found by some really deadbeat abusive ex husband's and whatnot. Their kids could be in danger kind of thing. This kind of site makes it way too easy for a predator or just anyone that wants to know where someone lives to actually show up.i hope these sites Get sued and shut down. I'm sure there are already plenty of bad things that have happened because of this site.

The sad part for the United States and information on these types of sites, is that the information is all public access. They pull information off of social media, court records that are publicly accessible as well. The only time that court records are not public accessible is if something in court is still pending, sealed, or it has to do with a child / child custody.

Divorce, selling of land / deeds, etc. is completely public accessible.

A lot of states have computers at their court houses where you can type in someone's name and it gives you everything they have ever had in court. You can access these databases from home as well.

originally posted by: butcherguy
A lot of the information they had for me was inaccurate.
They did list (correctly) all of the addresses that I have lived at for the last 30 years, but they also had addresses that were incorrect.
The 'associates' were the least accurate. Most of the people listed there are unknown to me.

They pull information from social media sites, like Face Book, My Space, etc. I had issues a while back with someone who was stalking my FB and stalking friends of mine, trying to get information about me while playing the poor me card. I blocked her on FB and changed my phone number. About two weeks later, she sent me a nasty text at my new number. I have my cell number as unlisted. I changed my number yet again. I didn't give it out to anyone this time, except my son who lives in another state and would happily tell the woman to go F herself. I gave it to my Dr. office and had connected it with FB. So I could retrieve my account if I lost it somehow. She got my number again. I changed it again. I didn't connect it to FB this time. Gave it to only my son and Dr. office. I have not received a call from her since.

Don't attach personal information to FB or any other social media outlet. They can claim all they want to that they don't give out your information but I'm telling you...they sure do. All the people you said are associated with you, are probably from some social media you are on. Scary stuff...

a reply to: UberL33t

Oh oh oh, one thing too that you might want to think about. You might want to check every year to make sure your info. is not up there again. I'm wondering if the opt-out option isn't similar to a letter ( states name them differently ), letter to rescind, letter of instruction, etc. but in some states, those are only valid for a year and have very specific wording in some local areas of a state.

I'll do a whois search to see who the owners of this company is and if there is anything listed for other companies that may be owned by them.

Looks like Trump opted out already.
Dang it.

Can we use it to find political nepotism?