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Departing from a message by slate43 in How to ...
I have a cousin that wishes her name and the name of her child be deleted from the family tree. I do not know why. I've asked but she has not been forthcoming. At any rate, she wants this to be done. I feel being a member of a family is a binary event. Either you is, or you ain't a member of the family. If you is, you get placed on the tree.
This issue (the wish of an individual to be excluded) was brought up in another forum I watch (no, I'm not a forumaniac, I subscribe only to three forums, one for business card collecting, one for Nikon camera users, and GenoPro) for collectors of business cards, and the question was what do you do if somebody asks you to withdraw and destroy their business card from your collection.
In my (strong) opinion, the principle is the same: not everything relating to a person or even emanating from a person necessarily remains forever their own property. An individual may have their reasons why they want their name removed from a genealogical tree, but the official information about them, such as name and date of birth or parents' names, is not theirs. Except for extreme cases where such an inclusion might seriously hurt somebody or something, it's ethically very ok, in my opinion, to add to my tree or anyone else's tree any available information, whether the individuals on the tree like it or not. After all, it's only my business what I do in my own hard disk.
Now, regarding reports made public, this is perhaps a bit different. If the individual has indeed very good reasons to want their name excluded from a report that will be published on the www, then the genealogist should perhaps take into consideration the other person's sensitivities, needs or fears. But in such cases, it's better I think to reveal limited info, rather than mislead the viewer. For example, one could use the initials instead of a full name, but not ignore the birth as such.
I personally don't see how one can demand their exclusion from a tree, except, like I said, in extreme cases. OK, I'm not proud of all my relatives either  , but their existence is a fact, and one of the roles of genealogy is to record facts.
stefanos
Edited: Tuesday, October 4, 2005 by
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GenoPro version: 2.5.3.6
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I have a question about the ethics of an "amateur" genealogist who came across a decesased member of my husband's family when researching an entirely different family. Our family member was a well-known author in the 20th century. She has been sending my husband updates on her research and comments (such as suppositions as to the family's medical conditions). My husband politely requested that she stop sending this to him. It must be costing her a bit of money, but she doesn't ask for any reimbursement. My husband now just trashes the stuff, but it's a little like being stalked. Is there any legal way to stop her or other remedy?Thank you.
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FamilyTrees.GenoPro.com
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As she is not acting illegally, I suspect, there is probably no easy way to stop her enthusiasm. If she does not respond to a request to stop, you could use a Spam filter to block all correspondence from her.
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FamilyTrees.GenoPro.com
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Why does this bother your husband? The person sending you genealogical information probably thinks that she is being nice to pass onto him what she finds. I have had much unsolicited information sent to me by kind people who have come across my family name and were trying to be helpful. These people were aware of my interest in my family history and thought it would be useful to me. I would be more than grateful if more people did it!
Does your husband feel that there may be something in his family's past that he doesn't want made public? For the person sending you the information, it is probably inconceivable, being an amateur genealogist, that he wouldn't be happy to receive it!
How often do you get this stuff? Personally, I think you are overreacting. If you don't want it, just throw it in the bin.
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