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Go with familysearch.org, it's run by Church of Latter Day Saints/LDS, so I don't think they'll be selling it off anytime soon. Some external links (including

Go with familysearch.org, it's run by Church of Latter Day Saints/LDS, so I don't think they'll be selling it off anytime soon. Some external links (including to findagrave), but lots of info they store locally. They seem to have a ton of my ancestors imported from national archives on microfiche from a predecessor country of a predecessor occupier of a former yugoslav republic. And somehow an uncle's US naturalization certificate...

jurynulifcation 3y ago
oh man, of all the malicious entities on earth I care to not have my data or know which deaths in the family I need info on, the LDS is probably near the top. Best thing is it might be tractable to keep my data out of the cult. Thanks for the warning!
- multjoy 3y ago
  They are spending a huge amount of money digitising archives around the world for their genealogy projects, and were involved in the early use of microfiche in England back in the fifties. https://www.gla.ac.uk/media/Media_102866_smxx.pdf https://www.gla.ac.uk/media/Media_102866_smxx.pdf
- Scoundreller 3y ago
  meh, I'd trust them more than blackrock
- Tao3300 3y ago
  Good luck. LDS is pretty serious about this stuff. They probably know more about you than you do.
  - jurynulifcation 3y ago
    man, fuck. I hate when moneyed and powerful cults take an interest beyond their own purview. Can we just give them Utah and quarantine them there?
  - gustavus 3y ago
    Disclaimer FamilySearch is my primary client. The Church of the Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints doesn't store or maintain any data on people that aren't members of the Church and relatively little data on those that are. FamilySearch only stores data that individuals put in about themselves and on individuals that are deceased. Further they go to great lengths to ensure that data about living persons is only visible to the person whose data it is.
    - Teever 3y ago
      The Church of the Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is a criminal organization that has embezzled billions of dollars[0] so I would imagine that they would store whatever data they felt was valuable to them regardless of what they publicly say about the matter. [0] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/15/mormon-church-whistleblower-taxes-hedge-fund https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/15/mormon-church-...
      - ngngngng 3y ago
        This complaint was resolved. They received a small fine for organizing the funds incorrectly. But the money was legally donated and it's not illegal to invest money donated to a charitable organization. Also, you've posted this article twice in the past week. Hacker News is probably not the best place for your Anti-Mormon crusade.
        deleted 3y ago
        [deleted]
        Teever 3y ago
        I'm not an antimormon. I'm a secular individual who would like to see the promise of a secular society kept. I am also an individual who happens to think that white-collar crime is the blight on our society that causes so much of the other crime that we feel the effects of every day. As such I find instances of white collar crime that involve nonprofit organizations and a hundred billion dollars to be quiet odious. > They received a small fine for organizing the funds incorrectly Where can I learn more about this? Do you happen to be Mormon?
- Ekaros 3y ago
  On other hand if some people are doing the menial data entry work at this point on centuries old records. I say more power to them... Specially if the results are cheap enough to acquire.
defrost 3y ago
> And somehow an uncle's US naturalization certificate... They've a drone army of grey hairs with an innocent interest in family history funneling data { names, connections, digital scans of original documents } into the LDS-borg collective. It's in no way limited to Mormons, it's people about the globe paying to assist the LDS in assembling a massive archive of family lines along with documents and DNA samples.
- Scoundreller 3y ago
  The site is free and no ads. Don’t think they’re acquiring any DNA samples in this.
  - defrost 3y ago
    I'm thinking of the LDS for profit spin off past affilite company Ancestry.com https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancestry.com https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancestry.com Not a direct church run company, but born out of Utah via LDS members so pardon my incorrect implication above .. although (just from curiousity rather than any hostility) I suspect that there's still money flowing back from the private for profit company to the church (via tithes) and data exchanges of some form (because, human nature). Regardless of church ownership I've always had a dim view of any group ownership of a major silo of family relationships coupled with DNA samples.
    - gustavus 3y ago
      Disclaimer FamilySearch is one of my primary clients. There is absolutely no money flowing from ancestry to FamilySearch in any way. There is an agreement that members of the Church and FamilySearch centers get free access to ancestry in return Ancestry gets access to data collected by FamilySearch. There is however no kickbacks of any sort. Edit: Also FamilySearch doesn't store any DNA samples of any kind.
      - defrost 3y ago
        Disclaimer, I'm well on the other side of the planet from Utah and have no particular bias about the LDS. I wouldn't have expected money to flow directly from the private company to the free company, I do expect money to flow from the private company to the LDS coffers simply as a matter of founders and shareholders tithing back to their church. If that's true Then (If the LDS supports FamilySearch in any financial way Then it's also true that money does flow from the private company to support the free company) I'm not suggesting kickbacks or anything other than simply observing the manner in which money flows, much as a hydrologist describes how water flows. The case in my experience with relatives and Ancestry.com is them being encouraged to pay to send samples in or genetics testing - those samples are likely processed by a third party company that may or may not be connected, may or may not keep the original samples, full scans, partial result markers, etc. I find it very unlikely in the present Information Age that such data would be fully discarded regardless of any public disclaimers. This, of course, does not suggest that FamilySearch is storing DNA samples - but it does mean that I fully suspect someone of holding onto that information.
russdill 3y ago
They have a lot of openly hostile policies towards LGBT family members. Their photo policy is especially onerous.
- jurassic 3y ago
  Familysearch took down a photo of my grandparents because it they were kissing. It is the only picture I have of that grandfather, but they say no PDA of any kind allowed so I guess his appearance will just be lost to history. Pretty weird if you ask me that they treat a peck on the cheek the same way they handle full nudity / porn / etc.

jurynulifcation 3y ago

oh man, of all the malicious entities on earth I care to not have my data or know which deaths in the family I need info on, the LDS is probably near the top. Best thing is it might be tractable to keep my data out of the cult. Thanks for the warning!

multjoy 3y ago
They are spending a huge amount of money digitising archives around the world for their genealogy projects, and were involved in the early use of microfiche in England back in the fifties. https://www.gla.ac.uk/media/Media_102866_smxx.pdf https://www.gla.ac.uk/media/Media_102866_smxx.pdf
Scoundreller 3y ago
meh, I'd trust them more than blackrock
Tao3300 3y ago
Good luck. LDS is pretty serious about this stuff. They probably know more about you than you do.
- jurynulifcation 3y ago
  man, fuck. I hate when moneyed and powerful cults take an interest beyond their own purview. Can we just give them Utah and quarantine them there?
- gustavus 3y ago
  Disclaimer FamilySearch is my primary client. The Church of the Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints doesn't store or maintain any data on people that aren't members of the Church and relatively little data on those that are. FamilySearch only stores data that individuals put in about themselves and on individuals that are deceased. Further they go to great lengths to ensure that data about living persons is only visible to the person whose data it is.
  - Teever 3y ago
    The Church of the Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is a criminal organization that has embezzled billions of dollars[0] so I would imagine that they would store whatever data they felt was valuable to them regardless of what they publicly say about the matter. [0] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/15/mormon-church-whistleblower-taxes-hedge-fund https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/15/mormon-church-...
    - ngngngng 3y ago
      This complaint was resolved. They received a small fine for organizing the funds incorrectly. But the money was legally donated and it's not illegal to invest money donated to a charitable organization. Also, you've posted this article twice in the past week. Hacker News is probably not the best place for your Anti-Mormon crusade.
      - deleted 3y ago
        [deleted]
      - Teever 3y ago
        I'm not an antimormon. I'm a secular individual who would like to see the promise of a secular society kept. I am also an individual who happens to think that white-collar crime is the blight on our society that causes so much of the other crime that we feel the effects of every day. As such I find instances of white collar crime that involve nonprofit organizations and a hundred billion dollars to be quiet odious. > They received a small fine for organizing the funds incorrectly Where can I learn more about this? Do you happen to be Mormon?
Ekaros 3y ago
On other hand if some people are doing the menial data entry work at this point on centuries old records. I say more power to them... Specially if the results are cheap enough to acquire.

defrost 3y ago

> And somehow an uncle's US naturalization certificate... They've a drone army of grey hairs with an innocent interest in family history funneling data { names, connections, digital scans of original documents } into the LDS-borg collective. It's in no way limited to Mormons, it's people about the globe paying to assist the LDS in assembling a massive archive of family lines along with documents and DNA samples.

Scoundreller 3y ago
The site is free and no ads. Don’t think they’re acquiring any DNA samples in this.
- defrost 3y ago
  I'm thinking of the LDS for profit spin off past affilite company Ancestry.com https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancestry.com https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancestry.com Not a direct church run company, but born out of Utah via LDS members so pardon my incorrect implication above .. although (just from curiousity rather than any hostility) I suspect that there's still money flowing back from the private for profit company to the church (via tithes) and data exchanges of some form (because, human nature). Regardless of church ownership I've always had a dim view of any group ownership of a major silo of family relationships coupled with DNA samples.
  - gustavus 3y ago
    Disclaimer FamilySearch is one of my primary clients. There is absolutely no money flowing from ancestry to FamilySearch in any way. There is an agreement that members of the Church and FamilySearch centers get free access to ancestry in return Ancestry gets access to data collected by FamilySearch. There is however no kickbacks of any sort. Edit: Also FamilySearch doesn't store any DNA samples of any kind.
    - defrost 3y ago
      Disclaimer, I'm well on the other side of the planet from Utah and have no particular bias about the LDS. I wouldn't have expected money to flow directly from the private company to the free company, I do expect money to flow from the private company to the LDS coffers simply as a matter of founders and shareholders tithing back to their church. If that's true Then (If the LDS supports FamilySearch in any financial way Then it's also true that money does flow from the private company to support the free company) I'm not suggesting kickbacks or anything other than simply observing the manner in which money flows, much as a hydrologist describes how water flows. The case in my experience with relatives and Ancestry.com is them being encouraged to pay to send samples in or genetics testing - those samples are likely processed by a third party company that may or may not be connected, may or may not keep the original samples, full scans, partial result markers, etc. I find it very unlikely in the present Information Age that such data would be fully discarded regardless of any public disclaimers. This, of course, does not suggest that FamilySearch is storing DNA samples - but it does mean that I fully suspect someone of holding onto that information.

russdill 3y ago

They have a lot of openly hostile policies towards LGBT family members. Their photo policy is especially onerous.

jurassic 3y ago
Familysearch took down a photo of my grandparents because it they were kissing. It is the only picture I have of that grandfather, but they say no PDA of any kind allowed so I guess his appearance will just be lost to history. Pretty weird if you ask me that they treat a peck on the cheek the same way they handle full nudity / porn / etc.