Open Access to Public Records: A Genealogical Perspective

The Records Preservation and Access Committee (RPAC), a joint committee of the Federation of Genealogical Societies and the National Genealogical Society, has published a White Paper dealing with access to vital records.

In a post-9/11 world, the requirements of open access to records and information often conflicts with the perceived need to ensure national security, combat terrorism and to respond to the privacy needs of everyday citizens.

Quoting from the committee's web site:

The Records Preservation and Access Committee (RPAC), a joint committee of the Federation of Genealogical Societies and the National Genealogical Society is leading the genealogical community to openly share perspectives on these vital issues and add their support to fostering education between lawmakers and genealogists. The committee believes that open communication between the nation’s genealogists and lawmakers can strike a reasonable balance between the public’s right to know while maintaining the lawmaker’s responsibility to its constituents.

This document is a project by the RPAC to provide information to lawmakers and those called to implement legislation about the genealogical community’s perspective of open access to records.

The paper provides a genealogical view of sample legislative language that may be used by those crafting bills to fairly represent the needs of genealogists and still protect the public’s rights of privacy. You may view a PDF of the bill at FGS’ website at http://www.fgs.org/rpac.