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Discover how Big Data is revolutionizing online genealogy. Explore the legal implications, opportunities, and challenges of this digital evolution.
BIG DATA, here's a term that at first glance doesn't seem to have much to do with genealogy. Only at first glance...
Indeed, Big Data corresponds to the explosion of data volume and all the issues that this volume can bring. Knowing that online genealogy is booming and relies on the principle of data reuse and sharing, the link between the two is quickly understood.
Indeed, which genealogist has never been surprised to be confronted with an immense amount of information when searching for an ancestor?
The digitization of archive documents allows the accumulation of data in large databases. These databases constitute the entry of genealogy into the world of Big Data.
Moreover, the Lemaire law of December 1, 2016 on the reuse of public data has allowed many sites to make these data accessible and store them. Today, several websites offer search engines to query the databases - Geneafinder does this as well.
Soon, Big Data tools will allow exploring and linking all this information to reconstruct rich family stories.
However, these data are precious as they are directly linked to individuals' identities. Genealogy websites also store and display personal family trees that contain sensitive data about families, photos, family links, places of residence... (Cf. GDPR 2018).
As for DNA genealogical research for example, the site 23andme has declared an assumed goal of obtaining as much data as possible to conduct medical research on this "genetic Big Data">. Sites like My Heritage and Ancestry have diversified their offerings by opening health profit centers.
The use and exploitation of data are major issues of Big Data, and genealogy is not exempt. It will no doubt take some time for everyone to succeed in decrypting this new Rosetta Stone that is Big Data, but it is clearly a big step for genealogy.