CGL Regulatory Compliance 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which accommodation must a genealogy lecturer typically provide when presenting at a public venue?
- Printed handouts for all attendees
- Accessible seating and assistive listening devices upon request (Correct answer)
- Free admission for disabled participants
- Sign language interpretation at every session
Correct answer: Accessible seating and assistive listening devices upon request
The ADA requires public venues to provide reasonable accommodations such as accessible seating and assistive listening systems upon request.
Question 2: When a genealogy lecturer collects attendee email addresses for a newsletter, which U.S. federal law governs how those emails may be used for commercial messages?
- HIPAA
- CAN-SPAM Act (Correct answer)
- FERPA
- COPPA
Correct answer: CAN-SPAM Act
The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 sets rules for commercial email, including opt-out requirements and honest subject lines.
Question 3: A CGL lecturer wants to reproduce a chart from a 1995 genealogy textbook in their presentation handout. The BEST first step is to:
- Cite the source and proceed, since academic use is always fair use
- Contact the publisher to request permission (Correct answer)
- Reduce the chart to under 10% of its original size
- Post the handout only online to avoid print copyright issues
Correct answer: Contact the publisher to request permission
Contacting the publisher to request permission is the safest approach because a 1995 work is still under copyright protection.
Question 4: Which records are generally exempt from public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) because they contain personal privacy information?
- Pre-1900 federal census schedules
- FBI investigative records about living individuals (Correct answer)
- Publicly filed court judgments
- Published obituaries in federal archives
Correct answer: FBI investigative records about living individuals
FOIA Exemption 6 protects personnel and similar files whose disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
Question 5: A genealogy lecturer based in California collects registration data from residents. Which state law imposes strict data privacy requirements including the right to know, delete, and opt out of data sale?
- California Online Privacy Protection Act (CalOPPA)
- California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) (Correct answer)
- California Electronic Communications Privacy Act
- California Information Practices Act
Correct answer: California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)
The CCPA grants California residents broad rights over their personal data including access, deletion, and opt-out of sale.
Question 6: When presenting vital records from state archives in a lecture, a CGL must be aware that many states seal birth records for how long after the date of birth?
- 25 years
- 50 years
- 75 years
- 100 years (Correct answer)
Correct answer: 100 years
Many U.S. states restrict access to birth records for 100 years to protect the privacy of potentially living individuals.
Question 7: Under BCG and ICAPGEN ethical standards, a CGL lecturer who discovers a conflict of interest in a genealogical case study they plan to present should:
- Remove all identifying details and proceed without disclosure
- Disclose the conflict to the audience at the start of the presentation (Correct answer)
- Cancel the presentation entirely
- Submit the conflict in writing to the hosting society only
Correct answer: Disclose the conflict to the audience at the start of the presentation
Professional genealogical standards require transparent disclosure of conflicts of interest to the audience so they can evaluate the information accordingly.
CGL Regulatory Compliance 2
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which accommodation must a genealogy lecturer typically provide when presenting at a public venue?