People are not happy about a historical records website called Family Tree Now that displays a little more than your ancestral background.
I saw warning posts from a few friends before I decided to search for myself. After entering my first name, last name and state of residence, the search results pulled up a list of several relatives, associates and my past addresses.
According to the site, the data is "compiled from 1000's of U.S. public records sources, including property, business, historical and current records."
Even if the information is public record, a lot of people don't want their addresses on display for any internet harasser or real-life stalker to find.
@familytreenow How do I take everything about me off your site?? Had a week from hell from a stalker who got info from you. Thanks for that
— Mary L. (@MsVegasMary) May 5, 2015
Twitter user @Almost_Anna posted a thread with step-by-step instructions on how to opt out and get your personal information off the site.
1) familytreenow dot com only needs your name and your city to pull up the following information:
— Anna Brittain (@Almost_Anna) January 10, 2017
2) *your spouse
*your children
*your extended family members
*your last several addresses & the dates you lived there (mine went back 10yrs)— Anna Brittain (@Almost_Anna) January 10, 2017
3) if you're a part of an online community, ESPECIALLY if you receive threats, take note. You need to opt out, and I'm going to tell you how
— Anna Brittain (@Almost_Anna) January 10, 2017
4) first, pull yourself up. (Scary how easy that was, right?)
Scroll to the bottom, click privacy.
— Anna Brittain (@Almost_Anna) January 10, 2017
5) about halfway down the privacy page, look for this: pic.twitter.com/c9byxsOUHJ
— Anna Brittain (@Almost_Anna) January 10, 2017
7) go through the process (it will ask you to pull yourself up again), hit submit.
— Anna Brittain (@Almost_Anna) January 10, 2017
A few of our staff members got error messages when they tried to opt out, but my information was removed after about two hours.
@Almost_Anna its not allowing me to opt out at the moment pic.twitter.com/7qvxSJ0D1N
— Tori (@ToriGlass) January 10, 2017
The website asks that you allow up to 48 hours for the request to be processed.
FYI: Opting out on Family Tree Now dot com: You may get an error message if you try to opt out via mobile device, but desk/laptop = success.
— LaT ⚖ (@latxcvi) January 10, 2017
