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How can a stranger edit my tree? And can I stop her from doing it again?

Kathleen Wereb

September 09, 2013 03:55

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Recently a total stranger edited my tree.  Without my permission she merged a duplicate profile, then removed that person from the parents and siblings, and now I cannot find my relative in my tree!  

This person is not a family member, has never contacted me for permission, and I have no idea who she is or why she seems to think she can just jump in and mess with my tree.  I am pretty irritated at this, as this is not the first time I've noticed people merging / revising my tree, but at least they've never lost anyone before.

When I joined geni.com I had no idea this was allowed, as there is not an easy to access FAQ that I've noticed.  I'm on the verge of completely removing myself from this site over this, as I do not want strangers editing my tree without my permission or knowledge.  I don't care if geni is supposed to be a 'global' tree, my family is MY family, and the thought of someone taking control of my tree information irritates me.  I mean, how do I know that the information they are adding is accurate?  

Any help would be most appreciated.

15 comments

• 1
  
  Jeff, Geni Curator September 09, 2013 15:51

  Kathleen, it depends on where it is in the tree.  If it is within your family group regarding private profiles, then only curators can access those and they require permission to do so via a family or upon request.  If it's outside this private area and into the larger public tree, then it is a shared collaborative tree - that is usually the primary draw to this software.  We can certainly report vandalism if we believe that is what has happened rather than a good faith effort to correct an error or properly record information.  If you want to point me to the profile in question, I can review it and make a better recommendation on the course of action and help repair the tree (I can likely restore that connection).

• 1
  
  Elizabeth Diane Terry (Ditzenberger) January 19, 2014 07:46

  I agree with Kathleen I've put all the work into my tree and then a stranger can manage my family members without permission from me?  DOn't like this at all...

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  Jeff, Geni Curator January 21, 2014 18:59

  Here is some information on how the permissions work.  http://www.geni.com/company/privacy

  You can set your family group in your settings: http://www.geni.com/account_settings/family

• 1
  
  Celia Evelyn King January 17, 2015 13:12

  Someone has merged wrong information into my tree without my knowledge. I didn't think this was supposed to happen. The tree is in 'dispute' and I want to know how to fix it and stop it happening again.

• 0
  
  Judy Diane Hite January 19, 2015 00:19

  Received an email from Geni.com that some of my family's profiles  had been merged.  I haven't been online in awhile so decided to check it out.  I have NO IDEA who this person is or why he would be doing anything in MY family tree!!!  Is this person an employee of geni.com?  Here's his link:  http://www.geni.com/people/Angus-Wood-Salomon/4916839043630024699 .  I have no idea who he is?

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  Jeff, Geni Curator January 19, 2015 00:31

  Judy, Angus Wood-Salomon, like myself, is a Geni curator, one of a group of people who have been using the site for a long time and have been appointed by Geni management to build and improve the World Family Tree and assist users when asked. You can find out more about curators on the Geni wiki: http://wiki.geni.com/index.php/Curators

  The goal of Geni is to build one family tree, and curators have been asked by Geni management to assist in that process. If you believe this merge was in error, let Angus know and he can undo the merge or otherwise correct the mistake. If you're concerned about privacy, you can see whether this merge has brought new users into your Family Group by checking this list: http://www.geni.com/list?group=family If there's anyone there you wouldn't trust to view your private profiles, you can click on their name to view their profile, then choose "Block This User" from the Actions pull-down menu. I know that seems like a bother, and we apologize if the merge feels like an intrusion, but there are many advantages to having your tree merged with others -- you'll find connections you previously didn't know existed, and maybe even find some new cousins! Geni created this page to give you more information: http://www.geni.com/worldfamilytree/learn-more

  If you have additional concerns, I'd message Angus directly and he should be able to assist.

• 0
  
  Angus Wood-Salomon January 19, 2015 01:02

  Hi Judy Diane Hite, Jeff has pretty well described what we are doing to work towards having a World Family Tree by merging in unconnected trees to trees that is already in the World Tree like yours.. You can contact me by going to my profile and sending me a message so I can answer any of your questions
  

• 1
  
  Carol Sweetnam Gower June 01, 2015 11:37

  Hi yes I am so upset , I have spent hours sorting out my family tree, I am very dissapointed in this , site, I know that everything is done in good faith , but as pointed out, I would like to do this my way.

  I have gone so far as to send messages out and asked those who have merged into my family tree please to remove it but to my surprise , the horrible way of  some people assume they have all the rights to do as they please, this should not be allowed at all, 

   

• 0
  
  Jeff, Geni Curator June 01, 2015 20:18

  Carol, while I'm sure we'd hate to lose your genealogy contributions at Geni, if you do not want to work in a collaborative environment, may I suggest our parent company website, www.myheritage.com.  You should be able to export your GEDCOM here and upload it to that site without issue.  https://www.geni.com/gedcom On MyHeritage, you can work independently with your own isolated tree.
  

• 1
  
  Gwenneth Jewel yaist July 17, 2015 02:30

  Geni erroneously duplicated my grandfather's profile resulting in giving him a brother with his own name.  I tried to delete and instead give him a wife, but now the wife is joined to her husband's parents as a daughter and nothing i do will allow me to disconnect my grandmother from her husband's family and lists her as daughter and sibling to her in-laws. I tried relationships but they pulled up my grandfather's family with no editing or delete. How do I correct this?

• 0
  
  Angus Wood-Salomon July 18, 2015 00:57

  Gwenneth yaist I sent you a message in Geni

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  Kelly Marie Larkins December 24, 2016 04:54

  I agree. I do not want to hear that the point is to have one world tree. Many people lazily half-ass their research and one idiot has made my mother my aunt. I feel violated and my privacy has been violated. In addition, in my husband's research I have found one moron who shows a father born 2 years AFTER his son. NO ONE should have ever been marked public unless I expressly said so and NO ONE should touch my tree. In addition, now some asshole is managing people that I added and I cannot delete them or make them private.

   

  Also, the not so smart matches are claiming a match on one of my relatives with someone who was born 40 years prior. As you can see, such merges are disastrous and I should have the right to at least remove them!

• 0
  
  Angus Wood-Salomon December 24, 2016 05:29

  Kelly Marie Larkins please check your Geni messages

• 0
  
  Jeff, Geni Curator December 24, 2016 13:37

  Kelly, Geni doesn't operate on the model of a tree owner.  It's a shared collaborative environment - that is what Geni is.  Mistakes sometimes happen but often the collaborative nature results in improved accuracy.  You're identification of an error fixes it for another descendant.  In other cases, it may just be understanding the manual tools, matching, or merging.  I see Angus has completed the merge on your mother from your cousin's branch, so hopefully that corrected what you were seeing.  

  The privacy settings on a profile are intended to protect the privacy of living people, not block, hide, or make your tree inaccessible to other relatives, which is what happens because the profiles extend past the family group in generations.  Your sister, cousins, and other family members who are also members in the tree (thus it's their tree as well) will not be able to access these profiles.  A good rule of thumb is not to make private any profile born before 1850, which we used when undoing over-privatization.

  Hopefully you can work within the collaborative Geni model, otherwise, I'd recommend our parent company MyHeritage where you can make isolated private trees that no one can touch.  MyHeritage / Geni offer different models and for some Geni is the right pick and for other's it's MyHeritage, but if you pick Geni, don't be furious that it's not MyHeritage. https://www.geni.com/worldfamilytree/learn-more

• 0
  
  Kelly Marie Larkins December 24, 2016 15:15

  I DO NOT want it merged or I would have merged it myself. I DO NOT WANT THAT PERSON ANYWHERE NEAR MY TREE. I manage that profile and she is not to touch it. Let her screw up her own tree and leave mine the hell alone.

  The collaborative nature should extend to sharing research NOT destroying someone else's.

  Edited by Kelly Marie Larkins December 24, 2016 15:18