Birth names no longer a useful section of the database?

Ya i just read that too.. I thought Imdb’s whole cornerstone was the fact that they never delete valid information.. like these 2 articles even state:


https://help.imdb.com/article/contrib...#


And


https://help.imdb.com/article/contrib...#


What the hell happened?

What's interesting, to me, is that the way the policy is written will apply to all birth names, not just transgender ones.

I'm not in the business, but is this something of concern across the industry like birth dates?  I can think of a whole list of security reasons why it might be the case, but just don't know.

What about other factual information regarding films, tv shows or video games though? Will all that remain on imdb permanently?

It’s good to read this part from the Variety article:

”The IMDb spokesperson also said for birth name removal requests pertaining to titles in which a person was credited on-screen as their birth name, their credited name will remain listed in the credits section of applicable IMDb name and title pages in parentheses.”

My big question is: with this new policy revision..

Are the rules in these 3 following articles still permanent

https://help.imdb.com/article/contrib...#

And

https://help.imdb.com/article/contrib...#

And

https://help.imdb.com/article/contrib...#

This reply was created from a merged topic originally titled New imdb policy on birth names.

Because of this new policy on removing birth names

https://variety.com/2019/film/actors/...

Imdb will still keep all factual film titles, tv shows and video game titles permanently? Correct?

The way I see it is, if IMDb caves for this.. soon other people in the industry will request removals of other valid information, then pretty much anyone will be able to remove whatever they want.. this new policy completely defeats the purpose of building a database.. it’s supposed to build and keep a permanent catalog of all things for film, tv shows and video games.. that’s its purpose

Wow, Facebook comments on this article appearing on IMDb are a tsunami of people overreacting and being unnecessary rude...  

Being rude about is extremely unnecessary for sure.. my only concern is that hoping this nee policy doesn’t compromise the database where everyone will soon request removals..

This reply was created from a merged topic originally titled Question about the new policy.

Can a staff member please confirm this: So to be absolutely clear, will this new policy regarding name changes, will it affect film titles, tv shows and video game staying on imdb permanently? Film titles, tv shows and video games staying on imdb for good will never change, correct?

Thank you for sharing your concerns about our new policy

As documented on the site, we will now review requests to remove a birth name from a person's biographical details if the birth name is not broadly publicly known (i.e. it's not already widely recognized and available elsewhere through sources such as major reference sites or publications) and if the person no longer voluntarily uses it (i.e. only uses their birth name when compelled to do so by government/legal requirements, but not in other aspects of their daily or professional life).



Names listed in filmography credits for titles in which the person was credited under their birth name will continue to be displayed. This is in order to continue providing IMDb’s hundreds of millions of customers worldwide with comprehensive information about film and TV credits, thereby preserving the factual historical record by accurately reflecting what is listed on-screen.

I'm in favor of IMDb allowing workaday non-celebrity actors and crew to remove personal information, such as birth names and ages, from the database. Anyone can make a YouTube video and put in on IMDb. What's to stop someone from thanking an enemy in his YouTube video, which allows him to create an IMDb name page for the guy, and put out his personal information?

But IMDb is only allowing the removal of one kind of personal information. And they're doing it because they caved in to a pressure group. I'm against caving in to pressure groups.

I hope IMDb notices that they gained NOTHING through this decision. One of the pressure groups is already calling the decision "a half-measure." The more they cave in, the more the pressure groups will demand more caving.

I'm a strong supporter of (film/TV/video games) cast & crew credits, trivia and all the other info related to actual filmmaking process. People should recognize the historical value of IMDb, it's already huge. IMDb is not a CV or resume service (altough, as said many times before, people can of course use the site for that) and it shouldn't be controlled by agents, PR people, "Hollywood" executives or any "pressure groups" (all this generally speaking - there are total professionals in every area).

But sure, I can see the various problems related to information such as birth dates, residence, the names of a spouse and children, info of ex-wives-husbands/girl-boyfriends, divorces, criminal record issues (since now even an accusation seems to be enough - people want to add that to trivia or to biography), etc. Also "biography" is one of those areas where problems can arise quite easily. I personally feel that there's a difference between "biography" and "professional biography" and I support the latter.

I don't have any real answers, however, and I'm not sure that is this decision a good or bad thing for IMDb (maybe a bit of both?). But I do understand some issues behind it. Internet is a pretty nasty and dark place, especially nowadays. IMDb shouldn't give any additional "tools" for abuse. At least they should be very cautious with biography/trivia/etc information that is considered more "personal" than "professional" (there's a very fine line sometimes, but it's often there).

Hopefully a staffer can come in and answer this question but now because of this new policy, will these following articles be updated or will they remain the same?

https://help.imdb.com/article/contrib...#

https://help.imdb.com/article/contrib...#

https://help.imdb.com/article/contrib...#

I read in another thread that iMDb is already in the middle of some california litigation to possibly remove ages too?