This Creepy Website Knows ALL of Your Personal Information
Brides to be, you'll sympathize with me on this one. How hard is it to get everyone you want to invite to your wedding to give you their address? Answer: Damn near impossible.
We created a Facebook event to try and reconnect with old friends that we would like to give an invitation too, even if they might not be able to make it to Boise to celebrate with us. That didn't work nearly as well as I hoped it would, so I had to resort to Googling some of my old friends from high school and try to figure out where they live now. In doing that, I came across the creepiest website in the entire world. Familytreenow.com.
With the growing popularity of DNA testing and family tree websites, I don't think this site means to do anything malicious. Using historical records like census information, birth records, divorce records and living people reports, Family Tree Now will allow just about anyone to see all of the addresses you've lived at and any phone numbers associated with you. CREEPY!
Out of curiosity, I typed some of my family members names in and what I saw really startled me. It knows my parents' addresses dating all the way back to when they got their first apartment together in the early 80s, as well as their current addresses and cell phone numbers. In a day and age where phone books aren't really a thing anymore, that's just down right unnerving!
There are certainly people in my life that I do NOT want to find out my current address, so I've removed my info from the website. If you'd like to do the same, here's what to do!
Removing Your Info from Familytreenow.com
- Click this link to opt out
- Click Begin Opt Out Procedure button
- Once you find yourself, click the record and double check that it's actually you
- Click the big red "Opt Out" button on that page
- Your information should be taken off the site within 48 hours