PARISHES ought to be told not to enroll to the National Burial Grounds Survey due to risks, including of the info being sold to the Mormon Church, the General Synod agreed on Sunday.
Voting in favour of a motion brought by the Archdeacon of Blackburn, the Ven. Mark Ireland, members asked that the Archbishops’ Council work with the College of Archdeacons to handle multiple concerns concerning the survey.
Announced in 2021, the National Burial Ground Survey project goals to digitise all burial records and survey and map all churchyards within the Church of England (News, 3 September 2021). The project is to be delivered by the Church of England in partnership with AG International Ltd (formerly Atlantic Geomatics). Consent from each PCC is required in relation to all elements of the project, including the scanning of parish registers. It goals to create a web based plan of each churchyard and parish church, and a web based photo of each tombstone and memorial plaque, free to all parishes through the Church Heritage Record.
The scheme was relaunched in February, after the Archbishops’ Council renegotiated terms. Introducing his motion on Sunday — a following motion after discussion of the Archbishops’ Council’s annual report — Archdeacon Ireland welcomed the recent changes.
In 2021, he warned that the actual scanning of records was to be undertaken by one in every of AG’s partners, FamilySearch, which is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Mormons (Comment, 1 July). The project would give the Mormon Church “preferential access to each churchyard and all our registers and records”, he said, which might enable them to make use of this data “for theological purposes which are completely contrary to the teaching of the Church of England”. Its aim was to baptise people after that they had died into the Mormon Church, with the assistance of a relative.
Sam Atkins/Church TimesThe Archdeacon of Blackburn, the Ven. Mark Ireland, moves his following motion after discussion of the Archbishops’ Council’s annual report
While recognising that Atlantic Geomatics was not formally a partner of FamilySearch, he warned the Synod that AG would still have copyright ownership of the pictures collected, with the appropriate to sell this data to 3rd parties, including the Mormon Church.
Another concern was “data creep”: it could not only be burial records that were scanned, but additionally every baptism and marriage register, and each monument within the church. This data could possibly be sold on to other parties. “Privatising parochial records, and giving a non-public company the exclusive right to sell on personal data for profit is fallacious,” he told the Synod.
There were also safeguarding implications: baptism registers held details about children, including material that was “highly sensitive within the case of looked-after children”. His motion had been seconded by 4 other archdeacons and indicated a “deep disquiet” amongst them.
The Archdeacon of London, the Ven. Luke Miller, a member of the Archbishops’ Council, opposed the motion, warning that the Synod lacked background information on which to make a call. He argued that there was “an actual concern and commitment” from the Church Buildings Council to working with archdeacons.
He spoke of a “wonderful and fruitful” relationship with county record offices, which was now under some threat due to increase in interest in genealogy. “Bodies that are in some senses connected with the Mormon Church dominate this field,” he said. “It’s almost unattainable to have any genealogical data which shouldn’t be in some senses connected with them.”
The agreement with Atlantic AG now only granted rights for five years, although there was no agreement on how records could possibly be used commercially. These were public documents, he identified.
Speaking in support of the motion, the Bishop of Blackburn, the Rt Revd Philip North, said that Archdeacon Ireland’s motion reflected a “fair degree of frustration”. He had been unable to get answers to his questions for 2 years, and the motion was an excellent example of the Synod’s ability to carry the Archbishops’ Council to account.
Archdeacon Ireland said that he had for years been asking for a duplicate of the legally binding document that he was presupposed to be telling parishes about, nevertheless it was still not available. He hoped for a more transparent and open conversation.
Caroline Herbert (Norwich), who has worked in libraries for greater than 20 years, urged the Synod to support the motion. The records belonged to the Church and contained personal data resembling addresses and dates of birth. They arguably fell into the category of sensitive personal data.
The Archdeacon of Liverpool, the Ven. Dr Miranda Threlfall-Holmes, supported the motion on the grounds of transparency, suggesting that the data made public by Church House, and dioceses, didn’t convey that parishes can have concerns concerning the survey, or have to debate its implications.
Members voted in favour of the motion, to applause.
That this Synod
1. Regret that the Annual Report of the Archbishops’ Council doesn’t seek advice from the relaunch of the National Burial Grounds Survey (NBGS) despite this being a big piece of labor in 2023;
2. Welcome changes made to the NBGS since its previous launch, particularly that
a. Atlantic Geomatics aren’t any longer formally partnering with FamilySearch, an agency of the Mormons (Latter Day Saints)
b. The financial offer to parishes has improved, saving parishes an estimated £1.5m a yr in subscription fees
c. The management of knowledge under GDPR is way clearer, with the popularity is that the consent of every PCC is required;
3. Express its deep concern about other outstanding issues, particularly
a. Commercial use of the info — giving AG International Ltd copyright ownership of the pictures collected and the appropriate to sell this database to 3rd parties for profit, which could well include the Mormon Church
b. Data creep — the NBGS seeks to film all parish registers, not only burial records, including current Baptism registers
c. Safeguarding — baptism registers hold details about children, including material that is extremely sensitive within the case of looked-after children, vulnerable children whose address is probably not known to a parent who’s abusive;
4. Request Archbishops’ Council to seek the advice of with the College of Archdeacons to handle these issues, and request that parishes aren’t asked to enroll until this consultation has taken place.
