The rules I hold myself to, and how what you tell me stays between us.
In short. Skeleton Files is a one-person genealogy research business, and I'm that person: James Duncan, in Spring, Texas. I am not a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, and I am not certified by the Board for Certification of Genealogists. I hold myself to their published codes of ethics anyway, to the Genealogical Proof Standard for evidence, and to the Genetic Genealogy Standards for DNA. What you tell me stays private and is used only for your case. I never publish living people, and I never describe your case in public without your written permission. DNA is used only with your consent and deleted when you ask. If I find something sensitive, you hear it first, privately, and you decide who else does. If a mistake turns up after delivery, I fix it and tell you. If something goes wrong, email hello@skeletonfiles.com and you'll get a written answer within 30 days.
It matters which rules a researcher works by, and that you can read those rules yourself. So here is where I stand.
I am not a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG). I am not certified by the Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG). I don't claim their credentials. What I do is follow their published codes, which anyone can read:
Your notes, your uploads, our emails and the research itself are used only for your case. I don't sell any of it, and I don't share it with anyone for advertising. The companies that help run the business, such as Stripe for payments and Cloudflare for this site and your uploads, are named in the privacy policy, with what each one does.
Your uploads are stored encrypted, then moved into your private case file on an encrypted computer and removed from cloud storage.
I never list or describe a client's case in public, in a video, on this site or anywhere else, without that client's written permission. Even with permission, nothing I publish identifies a living person. The case files on this site are historical investigations with no living clients.
Your file, your family website and your binder are yours. Who sees them is your choice.
Every family tree reaches the present, so every case touches living people: your parents, your cousins, the matches on your DNA list. They didn't hire me. I treat what I learn about them with discretion.
DNA is the most sensitive thing you can hand me. I follow the Genetic Genealogy Standards, and my rules are short:
Records and DNA can turn up things nobody expected. A DNA result can show an adoption, or a different biological parent. The records can show a crime or an illness. When that happens:
I work to the Genealogical Proof Standard. In plain words, a conclusion counts as proved only when:
Where the evidence supports only a probable answer, I say so. Every finding is labeled by how sure I am of it, and every search is logged, including the dead ends.
I use AI tools openly, to search, transcribe and cross-reference. They never decide what is true. Every claim in your file is tied to a record, and every AI transcription is checked against the image of the original. The AI assistant I use is Claude, made by Anthropic, PBC. What it sees of your case is handled under Anthropic's privacy policy.
No researcher can promise that a family appears in the records. Parishes lose books, courthouses burn, and some lines end in a true wall. So depth is a target, not a promise, and I don't sell guaranteed outcomes. The pricing page and the terms of service explain what happens to billing when a line hits a wall.
If an error turns up after your file is delivered, whether I find it or you do, I correct it and tell you.
The records belong to the archives, courthouses, churches and libraries that keep them. I respect their rules, their access conditions and copyright. Every record in your file is credited to the repository that holds it.
Some archives release records only to family members, and some copies take months to arrive. Those are their rules, and I work within them.
I don't work for two people on opposite sides of the same question, such as competing heirs, without telling both of them and getting both to agree. If I have any other interest that could affect my work for you, I tell you.
Tell me. Email hello@skeletonfiles.com and say what happened. You'll get a written answer within 30 days.
You can ask me to delete your data at any time. The privacy policy explains what that covers, the payment records the law makes me keep, and your other rights over your data. Money and disputes are covered by the terms of service and the refund policy.
Skeleton Files · James Duncan
Spring, Texas, USA
Our other legal pages: the terms of service, the privacy policy, the refund policy, and the legal notice.
Last updated: October 7, 2026.