What I don't understand is why the state doesn't provide the information thusly: (1) the regular birth certificate, to be issued ONLY to the individual in question (or to his/her parents or legal guardians); and (2) a transcript of the birth record for anyone else who asks. Also, banks should require more than just the mother's maiden name as an identification on bank accounts. How about a password (similar to what is required to use the ATM), a driver's license number or some other kind of random question, like "What was your 8th grade math teacher's name?" No system of identification is foolproof but there has got to be an easier way to remove the potential for fraud than to restrict access to public records and make it more difficult for genealogists to do their research. > First off, greetings! > > snip<Similarly, while Davis has now restricted access to the state's full > birth and death record databases, it is still legal in most cases for an > individual to get an official copy of anyone's birth certificate.>snip > > Being this is still the case, what is the point might I ask? I suppose it > means only those that have real interest in finding out about someone will > pursue these indexes (terrorist or not). > > Frankly, I was horrified when the California Birth Index was released > online. I actually emailed rootsweb.com and asked them to REMOVE certain > individuals in my family. They never even bothered to reply and now they > wonder what the chink in the armor was that has led to the destruction of > their superiorty complex with respect to geneaological records? > > Fortunately, my late father had two identities established shortly after > birth & he appears in the death index under the wrong name. No one could > steal his identity (nor my grandfather - he had THREE identities thanks to > the quake of 1906). > > I wonder how many other "old folks" may be or were in this situation? > Luckily when you are dead you are dead according to a law passed in 1988. > *sigh* > > So much for doing any sort of bonafide/genuine geneaological research given > all the civil liberties we are now surrendering on a daily basis. > > S. F. O'Donnell > > >From: George Rushton <george_rushton@yahoo.com> > >To: CASANFRA-L@rootsweb.com > >Subject: [CASANFRA] Article from the San Jose Mercury, on the issue of > >C.A.B.I. > >Date: Sat, 8 Dec 2001 11:34:43 -0800 (PST) > > > >You might want to read this article from Saturday's > >San Jose Mercury News, on the issue of privacy and the > >C.A.B.I. It is I think a well balanced story. > ><http://www0.mercurycenter.com/premium/front/docs/privacy08.htm> > > > >George > > > >__________________________________________________ > >Do You Yahoo!? > >Send your FREE holiday greetings online! > >http://greetings.yahoo.com > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com > >
All banks require you to state your social security number and then they ask for your mother's maiden name. A California birth certificate prior to the 1980's would not provide a social security number. Sometime after 1968 (when my daughter was born), they began issuing social security numbers at birth (a lot of people complained about that then as being too "Big Brotherish." If the bad people of this world want to steal your identity, they can find a number of other ways to do it. Try going through your trash some day and just look at the pieces of mail you toss that can give them just as much information as other more valued sources. Sue Silver ----- Original Message ----- From: <merlaan@c-zone.net> To: <CASANFRA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2001 2:27 PM Subject: Re: [CASANFRA] Article from the San Jose Mercury, on the issue of C.A.B.I. > What I don't understand is why the state doesn't provide the information > thusly: (1) the regular birth certificate, to be issued ONLY to the individual > in question (or to his/her parents or legal guardians); and (2) a transcript of > the birth record for anyone else who asks. Also, banks should require more than > just the mother's maiden name as an identification on bank accounts. How about > a password (similar to what is required to use the ATM), a driver's license > number or some other kind of random question, like "What was your 8th grade > math teacher's name?" No system of identification is foolproof but there has > got to be an easier way to remove the potential for fraud than to restrict > access to public records and make it more difficult for genealogists to do > their research. > > > > First off, greetings! > > > > snip<Similarly, while Davis has now restricted access to the state's full > > birth and death record databases, it is still legal in most cases for an > > individual to get an official copy of anyone's birth certificate.>snip > > > > Being this is still the case, what is the point might I ask? I suppose it > > means only those that have real interest in finding out about someone will > > pursue these indexes (terrorist or not). > > > > Frankly, I was horrified when the California Birth Index was released > > online. I actually emailed rootsweb.com and asked them to REMOVE certain > > individuals in my family. They never even bothered to reply and now they > > wonder what the chink in the armor was that has led to the destruction of > > their superiorty complex with respect to geneaological records? > > > > Fortunately, my late father had two identities established shortly after > > birth & he appears in the death index under the wrong name. No one could > > steal his identity (nor my grandfather - he had THREE identities thanks to > > the quake of 1906). > > > > I wonder how many other "old folks" may be or were in this situation? > > Luckily when you are dead you are dead according to a law passed in 1988. > > *sigh* > > > > So much for doing any sort of bonafide/genuine geneaological research given > > all the civil liberties we are now surrendering on a daily basis. > > > > S. F. O'Donnell > > > > >From: George Rushton <george_rushton@yahoo.com> > > >To: CASANFRA-L@rootsweb.com > > >Subject: [CASANFRA] Article from the San Jose Mercury, on the issue of > > >C.A.B.I. > > >Date: Sat, 8 Dec 2001 11:34:43 -0800 (PST) > > > > > >You might want to read this article from Saturday's > > >San Jose Mercury News, on the issue of privacy and the > > >C.A.B.I. It is I think a well balanced story. > > ><http://www0.mercurycenter.com/premium/front/docs/privacy08.htm> > > > > > >George > > > > > >__________________________________________________ > > >Do You Yahoo!? > > >Send your FREE holiday greetings online! > > >http://greetings.yahoo.com > > > > > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > > Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com > > > > > > >
>If the bad people of this world want to steal your identity, they can find a >number of other ways to do it. Try going through your trash some day and >just look at the pieces of mail you toss that can give them just as much >information as other more valued sources. We're probably off-topic now, but this is why I rip up my mail before trashing it -- preferably in different trash bins. A shredder would be a good thing, really. :)