A quick guide to help you take your records off the site

Jan 24, 2017 21:35 GMT  ·  By

The Internet is a wonderful place, but it can also be extremely creepy. One good example of this is the Family Tree Now genealogy website which simply puts your personal information out there. For all of you who are rightfully creeped out, this is how you get your data out of there.

First things first, however. Family Tree Now boasts that it can help you research and build your family tree for free by searching billions of records in order to “discover your past.” Since they claim to have historical records including census data from the 1790s to the 1940s, as well as birth records, death records, marriage and divorce records, and even military records, they might just deliver on the promise. That does not make it any nicer, though.

You start off by looking for your complete name and the state you live in. Then the site provides a list of people who share your name. Depending on the year you were born, you can pinpoint your own record. Then you will find out what has spooked so many people because you will find “likely” family connections of people you actually do share a life with - brothers, sisters, parents, children.

You will even find that your address is right there for everyone to see. If that is about all you need to decide you want out of there, then you can take a few steps towards this goal.

How to remove your information

By accessing the Privacy link at the bottom of the page, you will notice a long list of information. What matters to you is to get to the “Opt Out of Living People Records” and click the link on the page. We will make it easier for you and hand out the “Opt Out” address right here.

The Opt Out procedure has a few steps. First, you need to verify you’re not a robot. Then, you’ll tap the “Begin” button and get redirected to the search page once more where you will have to run a search with your name on it.

When you locate your own record, click on that and verify that this is yourself and not just someone you share a name with. On the page, you’ll find a big “Opt Out” button in red. Click on that, and you should be done.

It can take up to 48 hours for your request to be processed, so you will have to be patient.

One more thing. You may be able to find your record via a search engine, so you’ll have to go back to the exact record, copy the URL from the address bar in your browser and send it to the folks at Family Tree Now on their contact page.