Off the top of my head (still full of Xmas stuff)......it is absolutely taboo in Canada!! But I will check this out to be 100% sure. And Guy....I am not one of the 'paranoid fringe' (G). I was a paralegal. Turn this around.......would you want me to be able to get your birth certificate, then using that, get your Social Insurance Number, a driver's licence, etc.......then open credit card accounts (remember, I have your mother's maiden name with this).......and bleed you dry!! Just a little 'enlightenment' on how identity theft works. And I am darn glad we have these laws. True case........as I was a Commissioner of Oaths (slightly less than a Notary Public). Remember when James Earl Ray was on the run after killing Martin Luther King? He came to Toronto......went thru old newspaper microfilm birth announcements.....picked out 3 people roughly his own age......and then armed with the mother's maiden name, etc., he applied for passports and a Notary 'rubberstamped' them. I personally knew 2 of the 3 people he stole the identity of.......how's that for a small world in a city of 2 million people??? And one was a cop, who found life a little tense at the station after that!! Heather > Hi Everybody, > > Am I allowed to obtain a copy of a birth certificate of a living person > without their knowledge or is this totally taboo? I fear the latter but would > like your comments on the matter. > > Bryan > > > ==== CUMBERLAND Mailing List ==== > >