I knew you felt like that Richard. <g> I just called Social Security to do some things for an elderly relative of my late husband's. Every question they asked him to verify his identity I could have answered and accessed his account [if I had a good fake old man voice]. Frankly that makes me nervous. As I said, I seriously doubt the information is good for identity theft but there are other things that go on in this wonderful world we live in. Birth certificates of living people should never be shared if no other reason than it might upset that person. And birth records, with the detail that is on birth certificates, are NOT public record any more. You absolutely cannot get or even see a birth certificate for anyone under 75 in Illinois unless it is yourself or your minor child. Even if the person is dead and the county clerk went to the funeral, if they were born less than 75 years ago you aren't getting the birth certificate. Cheryl Rothwell [email protected] Logan County ILGenWeb www.rootsweb.com/~illogan Central IL Regional Coordinator, ILGenWeb Clark, Downing, Harding, Lucas, et al -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.9.7 - Release Date: 4/12/2005