[Weary Tourist]

This type of problem is always present when dealing with individuals still alive.

It can arise when seeking out mates, or schoolfriends, or for family historians and genealogists, looking to expand the picture by seeking descendants, or friends, with a living memory of individuals in their family tree.

So it's a superb illustration to others, of a problem that can arise out of the blue.
It's also a perfect solution to this problem. A no quibbles removal of any offending material, and a sincere apology.

Doug should be congratulated on his post, that shows both the problem and the solution. It should help others who could find themselves in a similar position in the future. He should not treat himself too harshly.

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To support those publishing family trees to the web, consider the following :-

The software you use should provide you with a facility to privatise and remove sensitive information for individuals from 1904 to present (based on current year and the 100 year rule) just before transfer to the web. It's safer that way, but you get to keep the information for your own record.

Although it can be a technical subject, if you have your own webspace, and upload webpages with sensitive information, find out about .HTACCESS and .HTPASSWD files, that enable you to establish an area that is username and password protected.
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Finally, hats off to Doug for the way he dealt with the problem.