General Chat

Top tip - using the Genes Reunited community

Welcome to the Genes Reunited community boards!

  • The Genes Reunited community is made up of millions of people with similar interests. Discover your family history and make life long friends along the way.
  • You will find a close knit but welcoming group of keen genealogists all prepared to offer advice and help to new members.
  • And it's not all serious business. The boards are often a place to relax and be entertained by all kinds of subjects.
  • The Genes community will go out of their way to help you, so don’t be shy about asking for help.

Quick Search

Single word search

Icons

  • New posts
  • No new posts
  • Thread closed
  • Stickied, new posts
  • Stickied, no new posts

Should It Be Made Harder To Obtain Certificates?

ProfilePosted byOptionsPost Date

Darklord

Darklord Report 1 May 2009 17:24

Evening All


With todays need for Passwords and Pins, the need to shred our post before we put it in the bin,etc etc

Then why is it so easy to get a BMD cetificate. Lets be fair we could be anybody.

Example, Sent off for mine, gave all the right details, sent the cheque and a return envelope,

Hey Presto one birth certificate, did they know it was me??? Course not.

So lets have a little bit more security please.

Darklord

Uggers

Uggers Report 1 May 2009 17:26

Definitely not. And a certificate is no proof of identity.

Darklord

Darklord Report 1 May 2009 17:29

Indeed not Uggers, but when used alongside a licence in the forged name you got a good start to an identity.

Darklord

Uggers

Uggers Report 1 May 2009 17:32

I know it's not a very good debating point but certficates are necessary for genealogy and that's more important to me than identity theft:)

Darklord

Darklord Report 1 May 2009 17:38

That is a fair point to raise

₪ TeresaW elite empress of deleted threads&#

₪ TeresaW elite empress of deleted threads&# Report 1 May 2009 17:39

I'll agree with Uggers on the genealogy point.

However, having recently signed on to jobseekers allowance aka dole....again *sigh*, a birth certificate is used as a form of ID if a passport is not available, and not everyone has a passport. OK it is used along with other documents, but it is still a form of ID.

No I dont' think it should be made more difficult to obtain them, for the very reason mentioned above. That level of risk of identity theft has always been there, ever since birth certificates have been issued.

I don't have my original one any more, and without a proper copy, I would not be able to apply for my passport, or in some cases, a job! (in fact it was a job application that made me lose my BC in the first place, I threw the wrong envelope away, one contained the returned BC, the other was the thanks but no thanks letter, indentical envelopes. I didn't realise for two years, when I pulled the envelope out again. I could have cried!)

Amanda2003

Amanda2003 Report 1 May 2009 19:13

As I don't have a passport I always use my birth certificate as ID if I have to.
It is the original and looks as well worn as I do.........lol

Just as a matter of interest , if a person was born and adopted in 1965 could they send off for their original birth certificate if they didn't know the names of the parents ?

Amanda