A private family tree: who can see it, and how to keep it yours
Keep the living out of anything public, and keep the tree itself somewhere private to the family. A family tree holds names, dates of birth, mothers’ maiden names and addresses: exactly what is asked to prove who someone is. The dead can be shared freely. The living should decide for themselves what is shown, and to whom.
What a tree can give away
A tree that seems harmless can tell a stranger a great deal:
- Full dates of birth of living people.
- Mothers’ maiden names, still a common security question.
- Where people live, and who lives with them.
- Family matters that are nobody else’s business: adoptions, separations, illnesses, a child born before a marriage.
On some sites, a tree can be public and found by anyone who searches. On others, the dead belong to one tree shared with everyone researching the same family, and anyone can edit it. Both are fine for the dead, and both can be a problem for the living.
Three rules worth keeping
- Nothing about a living person in public, unless they are happy for it to be there.
- Each living person decides what the wider family sees of them. A cousin you have never met does not need your date of birth.
- Children are decided for by their parents, and the more careful parent’s choice counts.
Before you share a tree
- Check whether it is public, private or shared with other researchers, and what each setting means on that site.
- Look at it as a stranger would, signed out.
- Leave living people’s full dates of birth and addresses out of any file you send to someone else.
- Ask before adding a relative’s health, a divorce or a family dispute, even privately.
Privacy on Heirstory
Privacy is the heart of Heirstory. Nothing of your family is public, and each person decides what the rest see of them.
- Your near family see you in full, and you see them: parents, grandparents, children and grandchildren, and everyone out to your second cousins.
- Others reached through your family see your name and how you are connected, until you choose to share more.
- Those who have died are shared with every tree joined to theirs, with the records that prove them. A family’s own writing stays with that family.
- Children under 16 are decided for by both parents, and the narrower choice counts.
- Certificates of living people are redacted before anyone sees them.
- Some things wait for the person they concern: anything about a living person’s health, separations, disputes or crimes.
- The family-tree file you download leaves out everyone living, and anyone who died in the last five years.
Questions
Can anyone outside the family find us on Heirstory?
No. Nothing of your family is public. The only public trees on Heirstory are the famous families in its library. They show people who have died, and the living only where they are well known in their own right.
Can I see what a relative sees of me?
Yes. The Who can see me page shows exactly who sees you, and how much. On anyone’s card, View the tree as shows the tree as they see it.
Does Heirstory use our family’s record to train AI?
No. Gene, Heirstory’s AI genealogist, is Claude, made by Anthropic. Under its commercial terms, Anthropic may not train its models on anything Heirstory sends. The privacy policy says what is sent, and when.
What does Heirstory’s own staff see?
Heirstory’s own admin tools never show anyone’s conversations or interviews. While the site is being built, its developer can check a page as a member sees it. That view is read only, and each time is recorded.