Reminder!!! Everyone is welcome at the Whatcom
Genealogical Society Research Group this Friday, June 1 from 1-3 at the
Ferndale Library. I’m planning to dig
into immigration and naturalization records for my 2 great-grandfathers. What are you going to do?
WGS Research Trip to LDS Library in Salt Lake City: Hotel reservations closing soon.
WGS has reserved a block of rooms for our trip to the Family
History Library in Salt Lake City. The arrival date is 15 July and the
departure is 22 July. You are not obligated to stay for the entire
week.
Please contact Cindy Harris, WGS Education Chair, at
caharris1162@yahoo.com with any questions or speak to her at the Research Group
meeting on Friday.
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Golden State Killer followup: We talked about so many different topics
at our May meeting last week. Not the
least of which was the use of GedMatch leading to the arrest of a suspect in the
Golden State Killer case. My post last
week gives basic information and links but the topic is not cooling.
In a local close-to-home
case Snohomish and Skagit detectives used similar techniques with GedMatch to
ID a suspect in a 1987 double homicide. (I
think the horse is already out of the barn with law enforcement using
GedMatch.) The detectives used Parabon
NanoLabs, a crime lab which has just started offering genetic genealogy
services. Our good friend CeCe Moore is
heading up this unit. This Seattle Times
article gives all the details plus an infographic of the steps used in this
case.
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This week “Extreme Genes” podcast episode 238,
includes an interview about the ethical concerns of using services like
GedMatch to solve crimes. Lots of food
for thought about the implications for you and your grandchildren. Well worth a listen.
“Extreme Genes” also has
an interview about the brand new Virtual
Genealogical Society that I mentioned at the meeting. Since the first of May they have enrolled
over 1000 people from 16 countries with offers of 3 webinars a month,
socializing, newsletters, special interest groups, prizes, and, to my mind,
many of the well-known professional genealogists as members and speakers. Originally they thought this would fill a
void for people in remote places and young people who don’t want to go to
meetings. I don’t fit into either of
these categories but I am on the verge of signing up. $20 a year could be a very good opportunity.
Where can you find
“Extreme Genes”? On your smart phone, tablet or computer. https://extremegenes.com/ Click on the
Listen button. It is great while
walking or driving. Just like a radio
show, host Fisher has genealogy news, interviews, commercials and theme
music.
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For the past few years,
but especially the past few months, genealogy
businesses around the globe have been preparing for European General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR") which
took effect last Friday, May 25, 2018. I’ll
bet you are seeing emails from websites asking you to read privacy policies and
confirm that you really want to receive emails from them. GDPR has the intention to restore the
“freedom not to be found”. That is seen
as an individual right.
As customers
we weren’t sure what affect it would have on us and the resources that are
available to us. The larger companies
have been updating their privacy policies and changing their opt-out features. Small mom and pop companies are retiring instead of
trying to figure this out. The fines are
too great.
Richard Hill, the beloved
DNA Advisor, told us that the regulation is particularly “onerous” to one
person like him. He said “I am shutting
down this newsletter and destroying the subscriber list.” The good news is that he can be found on
Facebook now.
And the news on the first
day of GDPR is that Austrian activist Max Schrems has filed lawsuits against
Google and Facebook to the tune of $8.8 billion USD. I knew the fines were being called “onerous”
but who knew they were coming so fast.
This story is not going away. The
scoop is here:
Along the same line Sylvia
writes in with her concerns about 23andme
anonymous matches:
“This looks a bit ominous - as of June 15,
2018 23andme is going to block any dna matches that are
'anonymous.' I'm sure it's another security move, but it might impact us when
we look for stronger dna matches. I assume that with an anonymous match, you
could still contact them to get the info you need on their family tree. If they
aren't visible, you won't even know they exist! They will have to 'opt in.' It
might be important for our group to know because members may be 'anonymous' and
will have to opt in so that they can share their results with others!”
Judith’s response: Ancestry did something with similar
result. People can opt out from matching
at the beginning. Same thing there. We will never know about those matches. It’s the “freedom not to be found”.
Goodbye for today. Keep me posted on your interests and challenges
so I can send information your way.
