'Irish Roots' archive

---

---

Search the entire archive 2009-2016

Search term

Irish Roots

May 25 2015

Beware: you're not the customer. You're the raw material.

Back in 2011, Dick Eastman (blog.eogn.com), the doyen of North American genealogy commentators and a very straight talker, described mocavo.com as "the future of genealogy". Naturally, I investigated. I had to upload information to explore the site, but its privacy policy promised all my data would be private unless I agreed otherwise and could be deleted at any point. Fair enough. I then uploaded a chunk of my own family tree, played around with it, decided the "user-generated content" approach wasn’t for me, deleted my tree and logged out.

In 2014, a Google search turned up a link to a distant cousin on Mocavo that came from what I had uploaded: "The key to your family history may lie in John Grenham’s genealogy". I logged in again and looked very closely at the profile settings in my account. Tucked away discreetly at the bottom was a default option: "Allow legacy searches". How could they could be "legacy" searching a tree I’d deleted? But I just unticked the box and forgot about it.

Then last week another Google search uncovered someone else in my family. A systematic check unearthed dozens of links to the original information I had supposedly deleted. So I contacted the company and asked them to stop using my private tree to sell their service.

First, they said they got the data from somewhere else. When I pointed out information that was unique to my tree, they said the pages weren’t publicly available. When I sent them screenshots showing the pages, they told me I had to prove my identity to have them taken down. When I sent a scan of my passport, they took down some of the information, but not all. They then denied the remaining bits were there. Eventually, after much bluster, everything came down. I think.

The experience was truly Kafkaesque, and the moral is clear: Beware.

You’re not the customer. You’re the raw material.

Blog

2016

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	June	July	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec
4	1
11	8
18
25

2015

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	June	July	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec
5	2	2	6	4	1	6	3	15	5	2	7
13	9	9	13	11	8	13	10	14	12	9	14
19	16	16	20	18	16	20	17	21	19	16	21
26	23	23	29	25	22	27	24	28	26	23	28
		30			29		31			30

2014

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	June	July	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec
6	3	3	7	5	2	7	4	1	6	3	1
13	10	10	14	12	9	14	11	8	13	10	8
20	17	17	21	19	16	21	18	15	20	17	15
27	24	24	28	26	23	28	25	22	27	24	22
		31			30			29			29

---

2013

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	June	July	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec
31	7	4	4	1	6	3	1	5	2	7	4	2
14	11	11	8	13	10	8	12	9	14	11	9
21	18	18	15	20	17	15	19	16	21	18	16
28	25	25	22	27		22	26	23	28	25	23
			29			29		30			30

---

2012

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	June	July	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec
2	6	5	2	7	4	2	6	3	1	5	3
9	13	12	9	14	11	9	13	10	8	12	10
16	20	19	16	21	18	16	20	17	15	19	17
23	27	26	23	28	25	23	27	24	22	26	24
30			30			30			29

---

2011

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	June	July	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec
3	7	7	4	2	6	4	1	5	3	7	5
10	14	14	11	9	13	11	8	12	10	14	12
17	21	21	18	16	20	18	15	19	17	21	19
24	28	28	25	23	27	25	22	26	24	28	26
31				30			29		31

---

2010

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	June	July	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec
4	1	1	5	3	7	5	2	6	4	1	6
11	8	8	12	10	14	12	9	13	11	8	13
18	15	15	19	17	21	19	16	20	18	15	20
25	22	22	26	25	28	26	23	27	25	22	27
				31			30			29

---

2009

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	June	July	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec
6	6	2	2	6	4	1	6	3	7	5	2	7
13	9	9	13	11	8	13	10	14	12	9	14
20	16	16	20	18	15	20	17	21	19	16	21
27	23	23	27	25	22	27	24	28	26	23	28
					29		31			30

---