Sunday 15 March 2009

Namibian Family Tree


Hi, Milton here from the farm Okomitundu. I have visited the top of the Kudu Mountain, some 400 metres above the farmhouse (1,670m above sea-level). I was being interviewed for the television programme Green Horizons that should be broadcast on NBC TV on 26 March.

(Some people have asked for a picture of what the farm looks like, so have a look at www.okomitundu.com.)


This week I have finished loading 250,000 Namibians information listed by surname on to the Internet. This includes their name and surname, as well as their date of birth. See my article below and check if your details are online. You might be surprised how many of your relatives are on as well ;-).

Thought for the week:
"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one." ~Jane Howard

Kind regards
Milton
Email: miltonlouw@gmail.com
website: www.nambiz.co.cc
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What is private?

How much of your data is on a computer? How much do companies, employers, the government, even enemies know about your life? Even more worrying, how much of this information is publicly available?

Since 1999, I have been proposing a central register for Namibia (http://milton-louw.blogspot.com/2009/03/central-register-for-namibia.html). This week I listed all people I have been able to collect information on, in a family tree type website. It is available at www.nambiz.co.cc. You enter the yellow pages section and will then have an alphabetical list. Choose the letter your surname starts with and a list of all surnames starting with that letter will appear. Choose your surname, and a listing of everyone with the same surname will appear. You will find their name as well as their date of birth (if it is in the system).

In my case, I checked my cousin, Merle Oosthuizen and found her birthday easily......

My hope is that after looking at the site you will consider the amount of information of yours that is already being stored someplace. I hope this will get your support for a data protection and privacy act being made law as soon as possible.

Remember, I am only one person and have been able to collect all this, what about those businesses who have a lot more data on you?

Email me with your comments: miltonlouw@gmail.com
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