Law to strengthen personal rights could impede research
New EU law restrictions could make searching your family history more tricky says Genealogical Society of Ireland
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The Genealogical
Society of Ireland said
that a proposed European Union regulation could make access to birth,
death and marriage certificates restricted if it passes.
Genealogical
Society Secretary Michael Merrigan said that under the EU proposed
personal data protection regulation, public records held by the States,
including public records held at the General Register Office, such as
birth certificates, would be considered personal information. The
regulation aims to protect individual’s rights. If passed, the
regulation would not need to be transposed into Irish law and would have
direct effect.
If passed, the
regulation could pose serious impediments and curtail some genealogical
research by scholars and those interested in their family history. The Irish Times
quoted Merrigan, “For data protection purposes, we could end up in a
situation where genealogical, biographical, historical or even
journalistic research will be in some way curtailed.” He also said,
“There is a danger that if this regulation came in that genealogical
research and the publication thereof would be restricted.”
Merrigan
argued that anything introduced as part of the proposed regulation
should be put forth under the principle of public ownership and right of
access to genealogical heritage. He went on that this principle should
be used in any measures regarding access to records of genealogical
potential.
The EU proposed regulation
will be decided in July at a meeting of the EU Council of Justice and
Home Affairs in Lithuania. The Genealogical Society of Finland has
called on the Irish society to lobby Minister for Justice Alan Shatter
before the meeting. The Finnish society has contacted the Irish society
about similar concerns regarding the regulation. The Finnish society
wants genealogy to be included as an exception to the rules of data
protection proposed in the regulation.
Merrigan
has said that the current issue raises the need to establishing the EU
federation of genealogical studies to handle concerns that transcend
borders.
The reform of personal data
legislation was proposed in 2012 to strengthen personal rights and
tackle the challenges of new technologies, which often receive personal
information from its users. The regulation seeks to prevent the
information falling into the wrong hands.
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