Genealogists: Protecting Information About Living Relations

When working with genealogical researchers, information professionals should be aware that genealogy associations and professional genealogists have developed stringent ethical guidelines for conducting and reporting on their research.

[National Genealogical Society Standards & Guidelines; Board for Certification of Genealogists Code of Ethics & Conduct; Association of Professional Genealogists Code of Ethics]

One ethical consideration which a public librarian would be wise to learn about is that professional genealogical ethics strongly discourage publishing private information about living persons in genealogical research. This is to prevent the possibility of fraud and abuse if that personal data lands in the wrong hands. Our goal is to keep our family business, as pertains to living people, as secure as possible in our ‘webbed’ society.

This is the reasoning behind the United States Census Rule of 72. While figures and statistical information gathered in each census are made immediately available to the public, personal data collected by the United States Census (names and birth dates of individuals living in each household) is not released and made public until 72 years have passed. The 1940 census was released to the public in 2012, and the 1950 census will be released in 2022. This is designed to protect the individual’s right to privacy.

To protect the privacy of the living, most genealogical software systems have a built-in feature which displays by default a generic privacy message when the document is printed for publication, but allows the user to turn this feature off when printing a document for use within the immediate family.

Suppose, however, a family researcher is able to come by information about a living person in his family, although unknown to him personally, through information carelessly posted on a genealogical website or other social media by another family historian? Should this type of data collection activity be taught or encouraged by information professionals?

My own answer, as a professional genealogist, as the family historian for my living relatives, and as a librarian, is that remote techniques to ‘track’ the living should not be encouraged (or necessarily discouraged).

Instead, be sure that the information package you prepare for genealogists and family researchers includes information about the genealogical codes of ethics. Be sure that all conversations about family research start with: what do you already know, and how do you know it? Be sure to advise new family historians to begin by interviewing their known living relatives first. (The individual who is completely without “a place to start” in family history is actually quite rare.)

As new family historians gather information from relatives about other connections and relations, encourage them to build, extend, and develop personal relationships within their family groups, and gather information that is freely and personally given by living family members.

Then teach the new genealogist to protect the privacy of living family members as they would protect their own privacy; indeed, if we do not protect the privacy of our living relations, our own personal history is automatically made subject to public scrutiny, whether we like it or not!