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Ward directory generator

Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 6:31 pm
by russross
I hope this is the appropriate place for this; if not, please let me know.

In my ward we like to hand out printed directories. While many members are now using LDSTools and the directory on lds.org, it is still nice to have a paper directory to stick to the fridge. I wrote a custom script to generate these directories, making sure that they exactly fit on a single sheet of paper (double sided). It proved useful enough that I made it into a website for anyone to use. The intend is to make it simple and cheap enough to print out an updated directory that people will do it on a regular basis (we do it quarterly and hand it out with the sacrament meeting bulletin).

I'd love to have some feedback on it, especially from technically-minded people:

http://ward-directory.appspot.com/

It is free, without ads or anything like that. You will need a Google (gmail) account to log in. It does not store any private data, and uses your ward's directory data as exported from lds.org, so it honors individual members' privacy requests.

Feedback is welcome here, or my email address is at the bottom of the website.

Thanks,

Russ

Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 6:46 pm
by russellhltn
russross wrote:You will need a Google (gmail) account to log in. It does not store any private data, and uses your ward's directory data as exported from lds.org, so it honors individual members' privacy requests.

How does it work? Isn't the user going to end up uploading data to a third party (non-church) website?

Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 6:55 pm
by jdlessley
I started through the process and found that data is in fact, even though temporarily, placed on another server for processing. Because the data is manipulated on a third party server the data is exposed for capture by, well, who knows? Another problem is the presence of a "Save" feature on the site. This most definitely would violate Church restrictions for this type of data being stored on a third party server.

I would not recommend using this application for those two reasons.

The disclaimer, "For Church Use Only" does not even come close to the one provided by the LDS.ORG directory print feature. It says
For Church Use Only - Do not copy without permission from your local church leaders
Not to be Used for Any Commercial, Business, or Political Purpose
2011 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved
March 26, 2012
It is the LDS.ORG directory disclaimer that leads me to believe the use of this "service" would need local church leader approval before use since the data is derived from the source that this disclaimer covers.

Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 9:07 pm
by russross
RussellHltn wrote:How does it work? Isn't the user going to end up uploading data to a third party (non-church) website?

It is processed on a server, but the data is not saved there. It is only used to generate the PDF file, then is immediately discarded.

Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 9:11 pm
by russross
jdlessley wrote:I started through the process and found that data is in fact, even though temporarily, placed on another server for processing. Because the data is manipulated on a third party server the data is exposed for capture by, well, who knows? Another problem is the presence of a "Save" feature on the site. This most definitely would violate Church restrictions for this type of data being stored on a third party server.
The data is not saved on the server. The "Save" button only refers to your settings, i.e., the margin sizes and other configuration data.

jdlessley wrote:The disclaimer, "For Church Use Only" does not even come close to the one provided by the LDS.ORG directory print feature. It says It is the LDS.ORG directory disclaimer that leads me to believe the use of this "service" would need local church leader approval before use since the data is derived from the source that this disclaimer covers.
No such disclaimer is included on directories printed from MLS for ward distribution. Is this different? I agree with the need for local leader approval--I guess I assumed that part. I will add some text making that explicit. I would hope that no one would ever go printing our directories and handing them out without prior approval, so that didn't even occur to me.

Thanks for the feedback so far!

Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 9:13 pm
by russellhltn
Yeah, that's still a though situation. We've been told we can't upload data to a third party server. While it's fine to you to use, since it's your server, for anyone else, it's third party.

If it was a app that ran completely on the local machine, it would be a different story.

Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 9:25 pm
by russross
jdlessley wrote:I started through the process and found that data is in fact, even though temporarily, placed on another server for processing. Because the data is manipulated on a third party server the data is exposed for capture by, well, who knows?
I've updated it to use HTTPS throughout, so everything is encrypted both ways.

Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 10:11 pm
by jdlessley
We are not going to say it is OK or it is not OK. We are community users just like you. We are only pointing out the concerns we have come across in the past regarding sensitive information obtained from a Church source that ends up on a third party server, even if only temporarily. The risk is that you, and anyone who uses your service, place the Church at risk for compromise of protected sensitive, and even privacy protected, data for which the Church has responsibility. Some may argue that as long as the data is encrypted during transmission and not stored on the server it is fine. I personally would not engage in such an enterprise without getting approval from CHQ.

Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 6:34 am
by aebrown
russross wrote:No such disclaimer is included on directories printed from MLS for ward distribution. Is this different?

There are no "directories printed from MLS for ward distribution." There are directories that can be printed from MLS, but nothing in MLS says that they are for distribution. Thus the "For Church use only" warning that is printed from MLS is adequate. But in Handbook 2, Section 21.1.15, we read that an additional disclaimer is required on ""published" directories: "The beginning of each directory should include a statement that it is to be used only for Church purposes and should not be copied without permission of the bishop or stake president." (emphasis added). The directory printed from LDS.org follows that directive, and all directories distributed by the ward or stake should do so as well.

Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 11:18 am
by tomjoht
Can you help me understand why you just wouldn't use the Print feature within Directory to print out a directory of members?