After much discussion since this question was originally asked:
- Seeking possibly-living individuals - clarity required
- Why must we be careful in referring to living people?
- How much detail should be included in questions about WW1 and WW2 service members?
- How do we judge that a question might be identifying living individuals?
We settled on the privacy policy below which is found at http://genealogy.stackexchange.com/help/on-topichttps://genealogy.stackexchange.com/help/on-topic
Please note: You must not include here in any circumstances information (including name, date and place of birth or any other details) that would allow identification of any living (or possibly) living individual by somebody reading this site. In practice, this means details about anyone born in the last 100 years, whether they are believed to be deceased or not, and whether or not they have given their permission.
How to ask questions about ancestors born less than 100 years ago
Our privacy policy is designed to prevent "identification of any living (or possibly living) individual by somebody reading this site" and is not intended to prevent you asking questions that may relate to someone born during the past 100 years. However, to ask such questions we ask you to proceed cautiously.
If you already know that your relative was born more than 100 years ago, simply by stating that means that the privacy policy will not apply so that you can provide details freely. Including the name, date and place of birth, etc is fine and usually very helpful.
If you already know (or suspect) that your ancestor was born less than 100 years ago, and you know that they are dead, then you may include identification details such as name, date and place of birth, etc., but you must also provide evidence to us that they are dead.
If you know (or suspect) that your ancestor is still alive, then under no circumstances should such identification details be included.
Acceptable evidence of death needs to come from some official or semi-official source such as an entry on a death-registration / grave / cemetery / obituary site. A website link (URL) should be provided wherever possible. Regrettably personal recollection is not sufficient to show that we have done our best to protect people's privacy.
If you are in any doubt as to whether your evidence of death would stand up, then hold back the identifying details, and describe the type of evidence so that other users can help you assess it via comments.
The figure of 100 years has been chosen as a "best-fit" with policies across the globe.
If you see any postings which appear to contravene this policy then please flag them for moderator attention. If you do not feel confident or do not have the necessary privilege level to edit the offending parts out then the moderators will do that. Please do not leave the task at just editing though, because the moderators also need to ask the Community Team (via a moderator tool) to redact the wording from all versions of the question.
