LDS Tools directory shows birth year and age

[lajackson]

Go into the directory online and remove it, it will remove it in MLS as well.

And mention to your ward clerk that you do not wish to have that number in the system.

[johnshaw]

I wouldn't mention it... I'd test it to see if it comes back... 1st time could be a simple mistake - second time is an email to the clerk, the bishop, the stake clerk and the stake president asking them to follow the privacy policies the church has in place.

[krebsj]

Here is an FAQ for this topic:

Why am I seeing birthdates and other private membership information for members in my ward?

In the iOS and Android versions of LDS Tools, members of stake presidencies, bishoprics, stake and ward clerks, executive secretaries, and ward council members, including their counselors and secretaries, are provided with additional membership data and reports. This information is provided to assist these leaders in their callings to minister to their ward members. The information should be used appropriately and treated as sensitive by these leaders to help ensure the data privacy of their ward members.

https://lds.org/lds-tools-support

[julietayler]

Go into the directory online and remove it, it will remove it in MLS as well.

How do you do this online? What is MLS? Why is this even possible to have this info available? Nobody needs the whole ward's info. I am secretary in YW, why do I need the birthdays and ages of the entire ward? It used to show all membership record numbers too. We should have more control over what is shared with anyone.

[julietayler]

I also submitted this to "help" online quite a while ago and got no reply.

[aebrown]

Go into the directory online and remove it, it will remove it in MLS as well.

How do you do this online?

The text you quoted from someone responding to the fact that he didn't like people seeing his cell phone number. Anyone can remove their individual phone number by signing in to the Directory on LDS.org, going to their own household, clicking Edit at the top of their household info, then clicking the Edit link by whatever piece of information they want to adjust. They can then change the value and/or privacy settings for that particular piece of information.

What is MLS?

Member and Leader Services is the administrative software application running on clerk computers. It allows clerks and bishopric ans stake presidency members to see and edit membership information; it also is connected to Church databases so that changes made in the Directory or other Church systems will be synced back to MLS.

Why is this even possible to have this info available?

This information is made available to leaders so that they can fulfill the responsibilities of their callings.

Nobody needs the whole ward's info.

I would argue that the bishopric and clerks need access to the whole ward's info, and to a somewhat lesser extent, ward council members also need very broad access.

I am secretary in YW, why do I need the birthdays and ages of the entire ward? It used to show all membership record numbers too. We should have more control over what is shared with anyone.

Showing membership record numbers to ward council members (except their own household's MRNs) was a mistake, which has been corrected.

The developers of the various apps and systems try very hard to supply the information to leaders and members that they need for their stewardships, while still protecting privacy as is certainly appropriate. That's often a delicate balance, but for the most part I think the various Church systems do a pretty good job of meeting both goals.

As for your specific question about birthdays, it's certainly the case that you as a YW secretary have a need to see birthdays and ages for all the young women, as well as 11-year-old girls, and probably 18-year-old young women (to help with the transition to RS). There would also be arguments that it could be helpful to see that info for YM, and some other ward members. It's difficult to set the permissions to handle exactly the set of individuals you might need, so as a leader, you get access to the whole ward's birthdays. That information is not available to regular members.

[besplin]

Sounds like there was a bug where membership records were shown and then it was corrected?

I am a membership clerk in our Ward and the bishop has received several complaints lately of people stating that the ages of all ward members are shown in LDS tools.

One such person was the Beehive advisor who can see the ages of everyone in the ward instead of just the young women. Just curious if anyone knows the extent of this over showing of ages and if and when it will or has been corrected?

In the meantime I will continue to field questions and complaints from ward members over seeing everyone's age. I will encourage people to update their mobile apps just in case it has been fixed and simply needs a software update?

Any additional information would be greatly appreciated. I am in the software business as a profession so I understand bugs and Bug tracking software and releases and release schedules I am just curious to know if there's an estimated fixed date for this apparent bug.

[rjcablas]

I just came across this forum, and wanted to make a couple of suggestions:

1) Make the leadership only privacy setting the default - so members have to opt into giving more information.

2) Other than infants/children/youth - whose classes/quorums are age specific, what is the possible rationale for listing people's ages and having it available to all?

I understand listing a birthday, but not age/birthdate - seems like this information should not be available to everyone in the ward or stake. I can see other families' ages and have no calling that makes this even remotely necessary. My age is showing up even though I've selected leadership only.

[russellhltn]

1) Make the leadership only privacy setting the default - so members have to opt into giving more information.

In some countries, because of local laws, that is the default. I'm not completely sure who is considered a "leader" in this case. It might be as broad as the ward council. But it's certainly not a service project coordinator. Having "leadership only" as default makes the directory nearly worthless for non-leaders like the "service project coordinator" or any other position that would need to call members.

2) Other than infants/children/youth - whose classes/quorums are age specific, what is the possible rationale for listing people's ages and having it available to all?

It's not available to all. I think ward council members can see for members of the ward. But the general membership can only see their own.

[eblood66]

I just came across this forum, and wanted to make a couple of suggestions:

The forums are just user-to-user help. No one here can make any changes to any of the church systems, tools or apps. To provide suggestions or express concerns you need to use the Feedback link on any page on lds.org. That's the official way to get requests/feedback to the decision makers.