A great deal of hysteria has arisen as a result of the 11th September atrocity, and that is to be expected. Don’t forget, however, that details of living people have been easily available for years in a large number of paper sources – the telephone directory, for instance (….a great read, with a lot of interesting characters – but the plot –well -…………..).

‘The day of the jackal’ gave details of identity theft – using a birth certificate to obtain a fraudulent passport – at a time when most people considered the possession of a birth certificate to be actual proof that you are who you say you are. We know different, of course (most of us being in possession of a lot of birth certificates for people who are not in a position to use the passports we could apply for on their behalf – and who would be staggered at the concept of air travel) but a lot of people you meet still don’t.

The advent of computers and the linking of them to do this sort of thing has made the whole process a lot easier – and more obvious, of course. It is amazing how much information one can glean about an individual with just an internet connection and a small number of easily obtained facts.
I am sure you are right, though, and the real issue is not a legal one but more a moral and ethical one. Diplomacy is a very important issue and one must take into account the wishes of family members. Living people, I feel, should not appear on the web without their explicit consent (maybe, even, in writing?). I think you should think about how you would feel – uncomfortable perhaps?
Roger