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Archiver > ETHICS-IN-GENEALOGY > 2000-09 > 0968578385


From: Eileen Irwin <>
Subject: Re: [Ethics] CA/TX Birth/Death pages, etc.
Date: Sun, 10 Sep 2000 02:33:05 -0700
References: <a0.96ffc53.26ec1d58@aol.com>


Tim, I can tell from the tone of your message that you are young and
inexperienced in life and possibly very naive. This is not meant as a
criticism, just a statement of observation.

The 1920 census is limited access. One must physically go to one of the
places which has a microfilm copy. Not every library has these. If one
chooses to order his own copy of the microfilm, he is welcome to do so
by paying the price. Then this person must have access to a film reader
either by purchase (they are not cheap) or by going to a library that
has microfilm reading capability. It's a little different than sitting
in one's home, hooked to a phone line,etc. and just clicking on a few
links.
Even so, the information on the census is limited.

Birth records are different from census records. Census records are not
always factually correct. It depends on from whom the information was
obtained how accurate they are.

If you choose to put all your personal information on your website, that
is your choice and you do it. It is a far cry from a third party
posting your information on their website without your knowledge or
consent, especially if your personal information was not placed anywhere
on the net by yourself. If it is all so innocent, why not post your
social security number on your website? But maybe you don't have to
post it on your website. Is your driver's license number your social
security number? Some states have given driver's the option of using
their social security number as their driver's license number. Some
states database of driver's license has been open to the public. Why
withhold any information about yourself from your website? Post the
name of your employer, etc.

Now these two assinine statements show the scope of your naivete.
"The people that hire me know more about me that I know about me."
and "Why don't we just eliminate our personal names from these list and
pretend to be someone else if we are so afraid that someone may find out
that I am a loving husband and devoted father that loves to eat icecream
and watch cartoons with my 4 year old girl."

It is impossible for anyone to know more about you than you know about
yourself.

Many people on the Internet, on maillists, and in chat rooms do indeed
use an alias or "handle". Some even pretend to be someone else. For
example: On the Jerry Springer show was a guy who was having a cyber
relationship with someone he met in a chat room, he was really ragging
on his real life girlfriend, she wouldn't do what this cyber chick would
do. (Huh? All the cyber chick was doing was typing at him. LOL). He
got a picture of the cyber chick and he was going to dump the real life
girlfriend. I'm sure some of you have guessed the ending of this....
some may not.

Turns out the cyber chick was not a "chick" at all, but a transvestite (
a man in woman's clothing). The picture he sent was one he had gotten
out of some magazine.

Well, the real life girlfriend had the last laugh, and dumped that
loser.

On a legitimate note: Read a newspaper about the undercover police
officers who go into chat rooms pretending to be minor children and set
up these sting operations to catch child molesters. What about the
child molesters who pretend to be teens themselves?

Just because you feel that you are in no danger, doesn't mean that
danger isn't a very real possibility for someone else. Someone who
hasn't put his/her information out there on the net.

There is a case in Phoenix at this very moment involving a former female
news anchor on one of the local TV stations. This woman has been
stalked and terrorized for the last 16 years by the same man, a man who
has a history of mental illness. That's since 1984!! She has moved
numerous times, each time this man finds her by searching through real
estate transfers. These are records in the public domain. They are also
posted in the newspaper. The police can't seem to keep this guy in jail
or a mental institution. This woman's life is hell. She is not safe,
her children are not safe. Should she have to live under this fear? Of
course not, even though one could say that she is a celebrity.

But most people are not celebrities. This ties into my original post of
third parties giving information. What of the abused ex-spouse? Should
a third party give any information they have about this person to anyone
who asks for it? The connecting issue here is a basic "right to
privacy" and the fact is, the Internet is the easiest, fastest and most
convenient place to gather personal information about others.

Eileen

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