Belnap Family Organization Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy is issued for the benefit of the Belnap Family Organization (the “Organization”) and its members.  It is intended to cover the official presence of the Organization on the Internet and other social media outlets and its electronic communications.

Who We Are

The Organization is a voluntary, non-profit ancestral family organization established to perpetuate the memory and achievements of Gilbert Belnap (1821-1899), his wives Adaline Knight (1831-1919) and Henrietta McBride (1821-1899), their respective ancestors, and their posterity, among all descendants of Gilbert Belnap.  The mission statement of the Organization is:  “The Belnap Family Organization is a non-profit ancestral family organization for all descendants of Utah Pioneers Gilbert Belnap, Adaline Knight, and Henrietta McBride, created to preserve, perpetuate, and promote family solidarity.”

The Organization, which traces its existence to 1904, has been registered with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service since 1974 as a tax-exempt public charitable organization under the name “Gilbert Belnap Families Genealogical Association,” EIN 23-7373750.  It is also registered as a Utah non-profit corporation under the name “Gilbert Belnap Families Genealogical Association” with a D/B/A name of “Belnap Family Organization.”

Why We Collect and Share Information

As stated in its By-laws, “[t]he Organization exists to engage in activities consistent with its mission and governing principles.  Such activities include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Research, preserve, and disseminate genealogical and historical information on Gilbert Belnap, his wives, and their ancestry.
• Maintain current contact information for, and complete genealogical data on, all descendants of Gilbert Belnap and his wives.
• Hold regular family reunions.
• Coordinate research activities among Organization members and other family organizations sharing common ancestry with Gilbert Belnap or any of his wives.
• Coordinate the performance of, and sharing of information regarding, . . . temple ordinances [of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the “Church”)] for all ancestors and descendants of Gilbert Belnap and his wives, and ensure that temple ordinance work already performed is not unnecessarily repeated.
• Publish historical and genealogical records and research of interest to Organization members.
• Collect, preserve, identify, and otherwise make accessible genealogical materials, landmarks, relics, historical records, photographs consistent with the mission of the Organization.
• Educate Organization members on the history and accomplishments of Gilbert Belnap’s ancestors and descendants.
• Encourage Organization members to record their own personal histories, and to become involved in family history research and . . . Church temple work.
• Maintain ownership rights in materials collected or produced by the Organization.
• Conduct activities consistent with or in furtherance of the Organization’s stated purposes.”

The Organization is committed to the principle of freely sharing family history information.  Sharing of family history information helps our members discover their tremendous heritage, encourages the pooling of additional information and resources, promotes collaboration that fosters further genealogical discoveries, and supports the idea that family history records carefully preserved by, or rightfully in the possession of, one descendant should nevertheless be made accessible, where reasonably practicable, to all descendants.  The Organization actively strives to publish and digitize family history information for the widest dissemination possible.

Our Types and Sources of Information

The Organization strives to gather all available family historical and genealogical data on all members and relatives.  Family historical and genealogical information that is preserved by the Organization and made available to its members on the Internet and through other social media outlets has been collected and contributed by many people over a long period of time, starting with Gilbert Belnap himself who served a “genealogy mission” to the Eastern States in 1874-1875, and from a large number of other sources over more than a century.  In many cases, the original source of the information is no longer known.  Information has been and continues to be willingly and knowingly submitted by members for preservation and dissemination by the Organization.  The Organization presumes in all cases that consent or permission relating to any living individual has been obtained by the submitter.  All information received is preserved and used strictly for family history purposes and, for deceased individuals, Church ordinance purposes.  Church ordinance data of living persons is not shared publicly.

Much of the information collected and made available by the Organization is already in the public domain.  Such information might include, but is not limited to, an individual’s full name, immediate ancestors’ and other relatives’ names, hometown/place of birth, current and former address(es), telephone number(s), social media profile(s), public records filings, etc.  Information may be gleaned from publicly available printed or electronic family history, genealogy, or social media sources such as online census records (U.S. Federal Census records are publicly released after 72 years), FindAGrave.com, Facebook, people finder services, online newspaper articles and obituaries, online death certificates, and public family trees through sites such as FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com.  Only pertinent family history and genealogical information is collected by the Organization.  Publicly available and submitted information is arranged by the Organization in a proprietary manner to provide greater clarity, context, and single-point of access.

No financial payment or account information is captured or retained.

Email Addresses and Mobile Telephone Numbers

In order to stay in touch with its rapidly growing membership, the Organization allows members to register online or submit contact information to Family Representatives.  The Organization also allows members to “like,” “follow,” or otherwise connect through social media.  The Organization collects and stores email addresses and/or mobile telephone numbers for the sole purpose of communicating with its members.  Any concerns about the accuracy or privacy of any contact information held should be referred to an Organization Officer.  The Organization does not share or sell the contact information of its members, nor does it store such information online.

DNA Information

The Organization is interested in DNA information solely for purposes of confirming genealogical relationships.  The Organization does not collect, nor is it interested in obtaining, any DNA or other medical or health information relating to any member’s susceptibility to disease or genetic inheritance beyond identifying relationship.

Acceptable Uses by Members of Organization Information

The Organization makes available large amounts of historical and genealogical information without cost to its members and other persons interested in researching and learning more about their family history.  The Organization expects that any information made available by it to its members will be used appropriately in order to connect and share family-related information with other descendants.  Appropriate uses of information made available by the Organization would include, but are not limited to, learning more about one’s forebears, confirming descendancy, discovering genealogical connections between distant cousins, documenting evidence for membership applications to lineage societies, etc.  Inappropriate uses of information might include misuse of data for purposes of creating a fraudulent identity.

Others With Whom We Share Information

The Organization may share information with FamilySearch.org and reputable for-profit family history websites such as Ancestry.com for genealogical research and preservation purposes, to identify DNA relationship connections, and other reasons consistent with the Organization’s purposes and objectives.  The Organization does not share or sell any personal information on living individuals with any other commercial enterprises.

External Links

The Organization strives to include only quality, safe, and relevant external links on its website or other social media outlets.  Users of Organization materials and content are advised to use caution before clicking any external web link or when receiving any communication that looks like it might not be legitimate.  Please report any broken or inappropriate links.

Best Practices Recommendations

The Organization strongly recommends that members not use commonly publicly available information based on family history information, such as mother’s maiden name, place of birth, etc., when setting up any online user passwords or security questions.

Changes to Our Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy may change from time to time in accordance with perceived best practices and/or legal requirements.  We will not explicitly inform our members of any changes.  Instead, we recommend that our members check this page periodically for any revisions.

Last update:  23 Oct 2024