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Code of Ethics
The Australasian Federation of Family History Organisations Inc. (AFFHO) and its members are conscious that collecting, collating and sharing information about people, living and deceased, is an essential element of family history.
Responsible family historians respect the law and the feelings of others and will always:
- Seek by all reasonably available means to inform themselves about the legal principles in force from time to time governing the protection of copyright and of personal privacy;
- Observe the legal rights of copyright owners, by copying or distributing any part of their works only with their permission, or to the extent allowed under the copyright law's fair use provisions;
- Be sensitive to the hurt that revelations of criminal, immoral, bizarre or irresponsible behaviour may bring to family members;
- Obtain specific consent from living people that they are agreeable to further sharing of information of themselves;
- Inform people who provide information about their families of the ways it may be used, carefully recording and observing any conditions they may impose about the use of it; and,
- Recognize that legal rights of privacy may limit the extent to which information from publicly available sources may be further used, disseminated or published.
Member societies are urged to prepare their own statement, adopt and publish. Feel free to adapt this statement to suit your needs.