How does Family Tree protect the privacy of living people?

To protect privacy, Family Tree limits who can see the records of living people. Only the user who entered the information about a living person into Family Tree can see or change the record.

Be cautious as you attach memories to living people. In some circumstances, others can see the memory items. We recommend that you set the memories about living people to private.

How do I know if a person that I can see in Family Tree is living?

At the top of a Family Tree profile, beneath the tabs, you see a "Living Person" banner. In addition, the word "Living" appears instead of a death date or the word "Deceased."

How do I add a living person to Family Tree?

  • Add a person to Family Tree and click to select Living as you enter vital information.
  • Transfer a record of a living person from a database that you manage in a third-party program.

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can sometimes see living people from their Church membership record.

How do records of living people become public?

A person's record becomes public after you add a death date for the person. The Family Tree does not try to determine whether a person could be deceased. The system does not change the status to deceased based on birth year.

Can multiple contributors enter the same living person into Family Tree?

Multiple users can enter a profile for the same living person into Family Tree. Each record has a different ID. If you change the profile of a living person, your change does not affect other profiles for the person.

How do I change my privacy settings on FamilySearch?
How do I make a memory private?
How do I change a status from living to deceased in Family Tree?
How do I see my contributions to Family Tree?
How do I merge duplicates of living or confidential people that I added to Family Tree?
Can I add memories about my living relatives to Family Tree?
Can I share access to the living and confidential people that I added to Family Tree?

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