Snippets 2021 v.6

by Judy G. Russell | Aug 2, 2021 | General | 1 comment

Planned downtime at MyHeritage Our new virtual reality has had its up sides and its down sides. On the up side few events have been cancelled. On the down side even more events have been scheduled. Which means it’s a busy time around The Legal Genealogist, with...

Plain language from MyHeritage

by Judy G. Russell | Jul 15, 2021 | DNA, General, Terms of use | 2 comments

Privacy update: data won’t be sold It wasn’t a big change in the language of the privacy policy at MyHeritage that just took effect last week. But it’s an important change. In plain, unequivocal language, MyHeritage now states, in capital letters:...

Snippets 2021 v.4

by Judy G. Russell | Jul 12, 2021 | General | 0 comments

A don’t-miss webinar… It’s institute season here at The Legal Genealogist — a busy time, indeed. When I’m not teaching genealogy courses in one institute, I’m taking a course at another (this will be a full week of advanced DNA with...

Snippets 2021 v.3

by Judy G. Russell | Jul 9, 2021 | General, Statutes | 2 comments

About those guardians… It’s institute season here at The Legal Genealogist — which means busy times! When I’m not teaching genealogy courses in one institute, I’m doing it at another, or at a conference, like today and tomorrow in...

Snippets 2021 v.2

by Judy G. Russell | Jul 7, 2021 | General | 1 comment

RootsTech 2022 stays virtual The Legal Genealogist is now fully into institute season — teaching at genealogical institutes all over. Today, it’s one of my favorites — the Midwest African American Genealogy Institute (MAAGI). On tough topics like...

Snippets 2021 v.1

by Judy G. Russell | Jul 1, 2021 | General | 0 comments

When time is short The Legal Genealogist loves institute season. Teaching at genealogical institutes is rewarding and challenging and exhilarating… and exhausting. And as we ramp up in this institute season, it leaves much less time for other things like writing...

Genealogy and Juneteenth

by Judy G. Russell | Jun 19, 2021 | General, My family | 4 comments

Celebrating freedom It’s been cause for celebration since this day in 1865. June 19th. Juneteenth. The day on which the very last persons held in bondage in the Confederacy learned of their freedom. It began that day, 156 years ago, in Texas: On “Freedom’s Eve,”...

Case closed

by Judy G. Russell | Jun 17, 2021 | Court Cases, General | 5 comments

Ancestry wins yearbook lawsuit A lawsuit claiming that Ancestry was causing legal injury by posting yearbook photos on its website and using them in advertising and promotional materials has been thrown out by a California federal court. The case, brought in late 2020...

Where’s Waldo in Ancestry’s terms

by Judy G. Russell | Jun 15, 2021 | General, Terms of use | 4 comments

Ancestry’s complex terms of service There’s a great deal of research that’s been done in the past few years about terms of service not being readily understandable by the average adult reader. The view in general is that terms of use, or terms of...

Tiptoeing back to normal…

by Judy G. Russell | Jun 8, 2021 | General, Records Access | 2 comments

FHL to reopen No words needed from The Legal Genealogist. Let the FamilySearch announcement speak for itself: The FamilySearch Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, announced it will begin a phased reopening starting 6 July 2021. The popular destination...