PRIVACY POLICY
The primary objective in genealogy is to identify all
ancestors and descendants in a particular family tree
and to collect personal data on them. As a minimum, this
data includes the individual's name and the
date/location of birth, marriage, and death. In order to
support research by other genealogists, this data is
often published on internet genealogy websites.
As a genealogist, therefore, I have collected much
personal information on you and your family from a
variety of sources. The privacy of this information is
important to me and I assure you there is a privacy
policy in place for The Alter Family Genealogy website
that you will be satisfied with.
Most of us would prefer not to have to worry about our
personal data but, in this day and age, we must use
caution to prevent misuse of the information. Identity
theft and credit fraud are the worst problems. There is
concern that information distributed to distant
relatives or put on a genealogy websites makes it easier
for unscrupulous individuals to commit invasions of
privacy or other frauds. However, the personal
information that the identity thieves and credit fraud
perpetrators want are full names, social security
numbers, dates and places of birth, current
occupation/employment data, and bank/credit card account
numbers. One or two facts alone (e.g., your name and/or
your mother’s maiden name) are not enough information to
cause damage. Even still, with the information that is
available on the private section of the web site, I
require registration and password in order to access it.
I am very particular who I allow into this section of
the web site, and I require the full registration page
to be filled out. Quit simply, if you are not
willing to provide me with this information on yourself,
why would I want to allow you to access our information.
This information that you provide me with is kept
secure, and I will not even release an email address to
another cousin without permission.
Names and Relationships
Many genealogy programs can suppress the names of living
individuals and substitute “living" or “still living.”
Because I found most individuals want to know who their
living relatives are, in addition to knowing more about
their heritage, I designed this website so it does not
suppress the names of living individuals. Instead,
I have excluded the birth dates in the public portion of
the web site, and it is not as complete as the private
section. Except for living individuals taken from
other websites (names/relationships considered public
domain), living individuals are given the opportunity to
decline participation prior to being included on this
website.
Note: If a family member does not
want their name listed, that request is honored by
reluctantly excluding that individual from the website.
Their descendants are also deleted by this action.
Photographs
Photographs of living individuals are considered
personal data and are normally suppressed unless
you enter it into the private section yourself, or tell
me to. If the individual so chooses, a photograph can be
tagged as “always visible.” Before any photograph can be
included in this website, permission is obtained from
the owner of a photograph (U.S. Copyright Law).
Permission is also obtained from living individuals in a
photograph if:
- they are identified in the caption/description
or
- they can be identified through deductive
reasoning using names/relationships found elsewhere.
- If you add the picture yourself, it is implied
that you are giving permission to use a photo you
own.
Geographical Listing
Geographical lists identifying the residency of living
individuals may also be included on the website.
However, such lists will only identify the individual by
surname and county/state of residence (e.g., Edwards –
Knox, Maine). This data will help individuals who may be
interested in locating cousins living nearby.
Personal Data Suppression
To insure the privacy of living individuals, internet
genealogy websites always suppress the personal data of
living individuals from viewing by the general public.
Personal data includes, but is not limited to,
birth/marriage dates/locations, photographs, notes, and
biographies.
Note: If a relative does not want
their personal data to reside in a website server
database in spite of password protection, that
individual and linked descendants can not be
accommodated by the security program. They are
reluctantly excluded from the website.
Personal Data Access
Because I have found that most individuals want to know
more about their closest relatives, I designed this
website to allow listed family members to access
suppressed personal data of living individuals. They
must first read the Alter Family Genealogy Privacy
Policy, agree with the Terms of Use, and register for a
user account and gain access to the private section of
the web site.
With registration, upon receiving a password the user
will have access to the suppressed data of living
individuals.
- If you do not complete the registration process
completely, you will not be given access to this
information.
Personal Data Security
Original data given to me in trust (personal
information, e-mail/street addresses, phone numbers,
etc.) is not provided to others unless your approval is
first obtained. You should be aware, however, that most
of this information is public domain and may be readily
available to others using internet search engines (e.g.,
Yahoo People Search, Google.com, Birthday.com). If a
user asks me for your information, I will first email
you, and ask permission before releasing your info to
anyone else.
TERMS OF USE
This site is owned and operated by The Alter Family
Genealogy. From this point on, the term "The Alter
Family Genealogy" will refer to this web site, and the
term "you" will refer to any person viewing the website
content using the URL altergenealogy.net
or altergenealogy.org
The Alter Family Genealogy website contains copyrighted
material and other proprietary information including,
but not limited to, text, photos, and graphics. The
entire contents of this site, including the title logo,
are copyrighted as a collective work under the United
States copyright laws and all rights are reserved.
Restrictions
By using this site, you agree to the following terms of
use and any changes thereto:
- The Alter Family Genealogy website is for the
personal use of the family members listed herein.
Use by others is limited to the purpose of
genealogical research. The content of this site can
not be used for any sort of unsolicited mail or
commercial purposes.
- Family members must not share
their user name and password with anyone except
their current spouse and minor children. They also
agree not to share personal data of family members
accessible through use of that password without the
express permission of the individuals concerned.
- Individual images may be copied by family
members for their personal use. General
distribution, including use on other websites, is
prohibited by copyright law unless permission is
obtained from the owner of the photo, living
individuals in the photo (if identifiable), and the
site owner, (Don Alter)
- Biographies and documents may be copied by
family members for their personal use. General
distribution (including use on other websites) is
prohibited by copyright law unless permission is
obtained from the site owner (Don Alter)
- In the event of permitted copying or
distribution of copyrighted material, no changes in,
or deletion of, author attribution or copyright
notice shall be made. You acknowledge that you do
not acquire any ownership rights by downloading
copyrighted material.
- You agree to give appropriate credit for any
material from this website that you use in a written
document, genealogical database, or website of your
own. You agree to include a link to our site on any
genealogical web page of yours that makes use of the
content on this site.
Disclaimers
- The Alter Family Genealogy, the webmaster
Don Alter, or other family users are not responsible
for the accuracy of any content or material found on
our site or linked to our site. Furthermore, you
agree not to hold The Alter Family Genealogy, Don
Alter, or any family user responsible for any issues
that may arise from the inaccuracy of the content on
this site.
- This database contains information that has been
proved as well as information that is speculative
and in the process of being proved or disproved. Do
not take everything you find here (or in any other
online database) as gospel truth. A genealogy is
only as accurate as the proof documents that support
it. To be a proven genealogy, there must be proof
docs.
- Any questions should be addressed to the
webmaster and owner of The Alter Family Genealogy,
Don Alter at
- This site is safe for minor children and teens.
I have help many youths with school projects etc.
I will provide any information to parents at their
requests.
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