Ethicists and others weigh in
And raise questions that need answers The disclosure earlier this year that a DNA database used almost exclusively by genealogists to help answer family history questions had been used by law enforcement to solve a cold murder case has sparked a continuing — and...It’s not for us to choose
When the DNA results are not what was expected… The question came in again this past week, as it has so many times in recent years. A genealogist had asked others in the family to test to further the genealogist’s own research. When the results came in,...Robbing from the dead
Ask, don’t just take It was one of those obituaries that a genealogist just loves to read. “I was born,” it began. “I blinked and it was over.” Beautifully written by Emily DeBrayda Fisher Phillips, who died in Florida in 2015 just 28 days after being diagnosed...When you ask…
Testing others’ DNA The Legal Genealogist has said it before and will say it again… and again… and again… The hallmark of ethical genealogy is the utmost respect for the privacy of living people and the disclosure of information about living...The bull in the DNA china shop
Initial thoughts on the Golden State Killer case The past few days have been tough ones for those genealogists who — like The Legal Genealogist — love the ability to integrate DNA results into family history. It’s been even tougher for those of us...Sometimes it gets it right
New AncestryDNA privacy setting Every time AncestryDNA changes something, the naysayers come out in force. Every. Single. Time. If it changes the way it reports something. If it changes its ethnicity results. If it changes its terms of service. And, now, that...Don’t just take!!!
Ask before you use It’s come up yet again in our community and The Legal Genealogist is going to try, one more time (and as often as needed in the future) to get this straight. It’s generally not okay to take something we find online and simply use it. A...Law and ethics at FGS
The 2017 Conference in Pittsburgh This week, hundreds of genealogists are descending on Pittsburgh for the 2017 conference of the Federation of Genealogical Societies. It gets underway Wednesday with Society Day plus an evening social event (what could be better than...Ethical guidance
New code from IAJGS Genealogists deal with all kinds of family information each and every day. Including, of course, family secrets. Some of them are laughable to us today: the 18th century court record showing an ancestor getting into trouble or the 19th century...Subscribe by Email
