From: "Dorothy Holden" <DMHolden@ntlworld.com> > Not everyone is registered to vote - I have a son who refused to > return the form for many years and he isn't the only person I know > that won't give their details. You can ask that your details are > withheld from the general register on display at Libraries etc - > something you can request on the form itself < I understood that it is a legal requirement for all those eligible to vote to return the form and thus be on the electoral register, even if they choose not to exercise their right to vote. As for the full and edited versions of the register, which is what you are talking about, this came about because a man in Wakefield, Yorks, a few years ago took his local council to court for selling his details to commercial companies. However, it seems to me that wanting your address kept secret is largely irrelevant since the register does not run in alphabetical order of surnames but streets and roads, etc. Anyone wanting to find someone's address would have to spend hours wading through every single street unless they got lucky in the first few pages. What really annoys me about this paranoia over privacy is that government departments, local councils, the NHS, all kinds of other official and semi-official public offices know EVERYTHING about us but apparently we are not supposed to have access to such information!!! You place an order by telephone with virtually any company of any size and you will be asked for your postcode, at which the person on the other end immediately tells you your name and address because they have access to a gigantic database which has everybody on it. This database is available to umpteen organisation and firms but not to ordinary citizens! This is why I resist any attempts to restrict my right to handle information. > Not everyone appears in the phone book - I don't and I've had a phone > at home for over 25 years without an entry in the local directory.> I am afraid this is something I confess I don't pretend to understand. Apparently, something like 40% of people in the UK are now ex-directory. Why is beyond me unless it's some kind of snobbery. If you want to stop annoying double glazing salesmen and people doing surveys pestering you, all you have to do is register with the Telephone Preference Service. You can also have your address registered to stop junk mail. Why anyone would not want to have their phone number listed for any other reason - other than wanting to avoid violent ex-spouses, which is one reason I would accept - is debateable. When I was a Fleet Street investigative journalist many years ago I sometimes used to get threats from villains I'd exposed, but I never had my number removed from the public domain. Likewise, I wrote a comment column for a local newspaper for 10 years and often used to upset some people but I kept my phone number in the book because I took the view that it would be extremely hypocritical of me to campaign for greater openness and hide my own whereabouts. Privacy paranoia appears to be a growing disease these days! -- Roy Stockdill Professional genealogical researcher, writer & lecturer Newbies' Guide to Genealogy & Family History: www.genuki.org.uk/gs/Newbie.html "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." OSCAR WILDE

Roy, I can assure you that my son did not return his form. Possibly it was never chased up as he lived in rented accommodation at the time, moving frequently because of his work situation. Having a legal obligation to return a form only works if you are concerned about the consequences of failing to do so. As for not being listed in the phone book being a form of snobbery, well - that made me smile. Nothing at all to do with that, in fact I have never even considered that as a reason! Being unlisted means that I get to choose who has my number - unlike some of my friends who are plagued with cold calls from firms trying to sell them something. If someone is happy to conduct research that involves chasing up living relatives then that is for that person to decide. What is the problem with requesting that this is done off list so that at least there is still a degree of privacy for the people concerned. Regards, Dot Dorothy Holden Dover Kent England There are three things that can never be retrieved- the spoken word, time past and the neglected opportunity I volunteer for the Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness website www.raogk.org