The representation of NARA’s INS records in Ancestry’s database portal

Abstract

This article discusses the representation of NARA’s INS Records in Ancestry’s database portal. Ancestry, the world’s largest and most popular online collection of historical records relevant for people interested in family history, was able to grow into the world’s leading genealogy company through a wide range of partnership agreements with public as well as private institutions and organizations, including the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Ancestry has been able to control the online presentation of and researcher access to large volumes of records containing genealogical information, including records from the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). This position gives the company considerable influence on the discovery and interpretation of these public records. The company’s focus leads to a re-contextualization of these records and collections in Ancestry’s portal environment, in which records acquire new meaning primarily as containers for selective genealogical information that can be mined by researchers. Particularly concerning is the ability of the company to provide access to millions of poorly regulated immigration records containing personally identifiable information. This raises fundamental questions about the ethical consequences of outsourcing the development of online access portals to these public records to Ancestry.com and other companies that thrive on mining millions of records containing genealogical information while making the data available through their commercial portals.