Privacy statement

Dutch Genealogy Services respects the privacy of visitors of the website and clients. Here are the ways we handle personal information. In general, we collect a minimum of personal data to protect your privacy. We only use personal information for the purpose it was collected.

Use of email addresses

We will not use or share your email address for other uses. If you supply your email address, for example to sign up for a newsletter or in a comment form, the email address will only be used for that specific purpose.

You will not receive newsletters or other mailings unless you sign up. If you sign up for a newsletter, you can unsubscribe at any time by following the unsubscribe link at the bottom of each newsletter. The newsletter is handled by MailChimp, a professional newsletter service that respects privacy and holds the TRUSTe Privacy Seal.

The email address you leave in the comment or contact form will only be used to contact you about that specific question or comment. If your question could be referred to someone else, you will be given that person’s contact information so you can make contact yourself. Your email will not be forwarded without your permission.

Genealogical information about living people

Dutch Genealogical Services does not research living people. Our specialty is tracing ancestors in the 1800s and earlier.

To protect the privacy of living people, this website will not publish information about people who may still be alive unless they have given permission. This includes anybody born less than 100 years ago for whom it is unknown if they died.

Please refrain from including information about living people in comments, as these comments will be deleted or redacted as soon as discovered. This includes personal information about yourself, since we have no way of verifying your identity.

Specific scenarios

If you visit the website

Google Analytics is used to collect anonymized data about visitor behavior. This allows us to see how people find the website, what topics they’re interested in, etc. This information is used to optimize the website and create more content that visitors will want to read.

In order to gather these statistics, Google Analytics uses cookies to track your use of this website. If you choose not to accept cookies by refusing cookies in your browser settings, the website will continue to work as usual and your visit will not be tallied in the statistics. The information that Google Analytics collects has been configured so it cannot be traced to any specific persons. Only aggregated, anonymous data is used.

If you leave a comment

If you leave a comment, you will be asked for your name and email address. The email address will not be displayed on the website, and is available to the administrators only. In some cases, the email address is used by Yvette Hoitink to respond to your comment privately, or to contact you about a follow-up comment by another visitor. In no circumstance will your email address be shared with other people or added to a mailing list without your explicit prior permission.

The spam control of the website uses the email address to see if it’s the first time that a person comments. The first comment of each person needs to be approved by a moderator to prevent spam.

If you want to delete a comment you made previously, please contact us.

Please, do not share information about living people in the comments. These will be deleted.

If you use the contact form

If you use the contact form, you will be asked for your name and email address. These will be used to reply to your inquiry.

If you sign up for the newsletter

If you sign up for the newsletter, you will be asked for your email address. The newsletter is handled by MailChimp, a professional newsletter service that respects privacy and holds the TRUSTe Privacy Seal. You will receive a confirmation email first,  allowing you to confirm that you want to subscribe. If you want to unsubscribe, just follow the unsubscribe link in any of the emails.

If you become a client

If you become a client, your name, postal address, and email address will be required to send the invoices. You will also be asked to provide identifying information about the family you are interested in having researched. Please only include information about deceased people. Researching living people is not a service we provide.