I live in a state where access to vital records is very restricted. There is a severe restriction as to who can obtain copies of an individual's birth certificate. I would like to see more stringent restrictions on who can obtain copies of all present day vital records. For instance, I could walk in a get as copy of the marriage record for my neighbor's daughter who married a year ago. This would give me all the family information for both she and her husband. I have no legitimate need for this information. The genealogists in my state helped to write the present law that is one the books. Unfortunately voluntary restrictions pertaining to individual p does not work. In every family there are individuals who see not harm in making public information other family members may wish to keep private. Sooner or later there are going to be more restrictive laws passed to protect the privacy and identities of living individuals. Genealogists need to be involved in writing those laws. Who knows better the legitimate needs of genealogical researcher. I don't need access to state and town vital records to find out the maiden name of my cousin's wife's mother. I can pick up a telephone and ask her. I think what I am really trying to say is that experienced professional Genealogy Researchers need to be a part of finding a balanced solution that protects the legitimate interests of the living while making the information needed to learn our ancestral heritage available. Personally, I don't want to find my picture or any other personal information on a relatives web page; and especially on a web page I didn't even know existed. I love looking for my ancestors, but I don't need information about my living relatives to do that. Marilyn Halltall@aol.com wrote: > > "Genealogy" as it is practiced by many on the Internet is indeed a danger to > privacy. Responsible genealogists do not put information on living people on > the web. I have a cutoff date of 1900 and don't release information on people > born after that date. > > I have even seen social security numbers of living people on home pages, > pictures of their grandchildren and so forth, which is certainly invading the > privacy and perhaps even safety of those little ones. > > The congressman from Indiana, probably no genealogist himself, has heard > about this kind of irresponsible data-spreading and is justifiably concerned. > > JHall > >