Welcome to GendorBendor!
What is GendorBendor? Why do we need yet another software effort that puts family tree data on the web?
There are many genealogy programs that allow you to post your family tree on the web. GendorBendor is not
intended to be another implementation thereof but rather a means to address the privacy issues inherent in putting
such information on the internet.
When you publish your family tree on the web, you have one of three options:
- Openly share all the information, in which case the whole world can read everything in your tree.
- Put all the information on the web, but password protect it. Now you can at least control access, but anyone who has authentication credentials can read everything in your tree.
- "Privatize" the information before posting it. This keeps all information on living individuals private.
GendorBendor takes a different view of the privacy issues involved in sharing genealogical data. Here are our principles:
- By default, all information on living individuals is private.
- By default, all information on deceased individuals is public.
- Individuals who are blood relatives of other individuals may have access to otherwise private data.
What this means in practical terms is that your mother's side of the family can all share information,
your father's side can all share information, but the two sides can't see each other's private information.
It also means that your father's paternal first cousin once removed can see all the information on your
paternal grandfather and his siblings, direct decendents, and ancestors, but can't see the information on any
of your other grandparents. Get it?
How does it work?
The GendorBendor concept has been implemented as an integrated part of PhpGedView as of its 3.0 release.
Who wrote it?
It was ultimately implemented by the phpGedView team. They liked the idea
and when I had no time to work on it they did it themselves. (Thanks!)
Why do you need it?
I've got over 600 people in my family tree, of whom approximately 300 are
living. I want to share information with all of them, but I also want to
respect their privacy and confidentiality.
Who are you?
I'm David Bendory. My web site is http://www.bendory.com.
What does GendorBendor mean?
Well, dor is the Hebrew word for "generation". Ben-dor means "member of a generation". So GendorBendor means
something like "Generate generations of generations."
It's also got a nice pun on my name. I considered other names like PrivGen,
SecGen ("Secure Generation"), GedI (because genealogists share data in "ged" or "gedcom" files), VaDor (because vador in
Hebrew means "...and generation" and it could have been funny to combine with GedI), and lots more. None of them were quite so catchy.
OK, you've convinced me. How do I get it?
Just download and install PhpGedView.
Copyright © 2003-2004 David Bendory. All rights reserved.