Safe Sharing & Research Collaboration
Ancestry research can involve sensitive personal and family information. Share intentionally.
Do not post publicly
- Full names plus birthdates of living people.
- Addresses, phone numbers, personal emails, government IDs, or account numbers.
- Raw DNA data files or private account exports.
Safer collaboration
- Share citations and source locations.
- Use redacted screenshots.
- Use view-only sharing links when possible.
- Use pseudonyms when public attribution is not necessary.
- Keep DNA results and private family conclusions out of public forms unless the owner has reviewed the risk.
Consent matters. Get consent before sharing information about relatives or other members.
Safe sharing also protects the project: public pages should not expose personal emails, phone numbers, addresses, raw DNA data, or private records about living people.