Usefulness/Security of Genes Reunited

sheilago · Post by **sheilago** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 11:09 pm

I made contact with a fellow descendant of an ancestor of mine and she suggested I register with Genes Reunited so that I could access her tree and save myself a lot of time. I did begin to do this , but was a bit wary of having to put in my parents' names and my details as surely this could be a security risk this days: with mother's maiden name etc being so commonly used for security purposes. Would welcome any comments.

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 11:21 pm

Hi sheilago
My parents are called "unknown unknown" or "private private" on GR!

Best wishes
Lesley

Post by **Ina** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 1:33 am

Hi Sheilago,

I never write the names of any living relatives on GR. I'm listed as the owner of the tree under the name of my sister who died at 6 weeks old. All living relatives are listed as living relative.

Regards,

Ina

Post by **joette** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 12:26 pm

I have allowed trusted people who are related to view my tree.This includes people I have only met on TS & GR.
Maybe I am too trusting but so far no problems.
For example my Granny's brother's grandson & I went to the same school at the same time but never knew each other.
I have allowed him to view my living rellies as well as the dead(with their permission!) You can turn the facility on/off for whatever part of the tree people are interested in -some want only the part where you connect some want the whole shibbang!
We have built up a trust & he was unaware that his Grandfather had so many siblings only knowing my Granny & another sister.(there were ten children in all!)

JulieAK · Post by **JulieAK** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 1:54 pm

I've found GR very useful for finding living relatives and also for eliminating possibles in the UK. It's the one site I've maintained my subscription on. No use putting your surnames down on Rootsweb's Surname List if newbie family researchers don't know to look there, you know what I mean. GR has worked wonderfully for me.

I haven't had any problems from people viewing my tree. I don't maintain a detailed tree on there, preferring to send a GEDCOM when I find a relative.