Will there ever be any advance on BMD dates?

[Loopy Linda in La La Land]

Dates have 'stuck' at 2005/2006 will there ever be any advance does any one know?

Linda

[kylejustin]

i had heard rumours of laws being discussed for privacy reasons......apparently fraud is huge in the uk.

[Loopy Linda in La La Land]

That will be a big disappointment for people coming along behing us who are researching

Linda

[kylejustin]

i am shocked at how easy it is to obtain certificates from england. in australia it is a 100 year closure on births, usually 60-70 years on marriages and 10-30 years for deaths. unless you can prove your a close relative, or have permission from the person involved, you have to wait till the closure ends......

but they don't update the databases. they were last compiled for vic in the 90's (i don't know much about the other states), so technically you should be able to search the index for deaths up till 2002, but it it 1985 or 1987 i think atm.

[Olde Crone Holden]

kyle

I don't think that fraud is "huge" in the UK, I just think we have some paranoid politicians who believe it is huge and some kneejerk laws are now in place which are supposed to prevent it.

Judging by recent events in my life, where I have had to prove my identity - if it is so difficult for someone such as I, who have led an open and blameless life, then I can't imagine how fraudsters do it!

EDIT - Indexes to more or less the present day are now available at five or six centres in the UK, with no plans to put them on line. This is more to do with money than with preventing fraud.

OC

[margaretmarch]

Well certainly shouldn't be easy to use the BMDs for identity as it states quite clearly on a birth cert for instance that it 'is not evidence of identity'.

As you say OC us ordinary mortals have a heck of job proving identity at times so why it should be thought easy for fraudsters I don't know!!
Margaret

[JayG]

Whilst the GRO index post 2005/06 isn't online it is still available to view at the following places

* Birmingham Central Library
* Bridgend Reference and Information Library
* City of Westminster Archives Centre
* Manchester City Library
* Newcastle City Library
* Plymouth Central Library
* The British Library

[Loopy Linda in La La Land]

I didn't know that Jay, thanks a lot

Linda

[Wallaby]

i am shocked at how easy it is to obtain certificates from england. in australia it is a 100 year closure on births, usually 60-70 years on marriages and 10-30 years for deaths. unless you can prove your a close relative, or have permission from the person involved, you have to wait till the closure ends......

but they don't update the databases. they were last compiled for vic in the 90's (i don't know much about the other states), so technically you should be able to search the index for deaths up till 2002, but it it 1985 or 1987 i think atm.

I agree. When I first started this, I was also shocked at being able to get a BMD certificate so easily, I thought you needed to be a family member. I never realised until about 2008 that they are public records that can be obtained. It feels very invasive to be able to get somebody's certificate especially a DC, I mean, what if the person died of something they didn't want people to know about!


Wallaby

[kylejustin]

i just thought how unsafe it feels, that you can get births and marriages for living people, say cousins, without permission, and without them knowing you have it!

[Christine in Herts]

Yes. It's lovely to be able to unravel puzzles, but it does seem odd that I am making an active decision not to purchase certs for friends' trees when I'm sussing them out for fun, but yet that decision has no legal weight - I could change my mind on a whim, without doing anything illegal.

Christine

[Olde Crone Holden]

You have to remember the reasons behind civil registration. It was partly in order to prevent fraud and other misdemeanours such as murder, lol.

Marriages must be in the public domain - it is to everyones advantage to know who is married and who is not. Births also - if a child is not registered then it would be too easy for that child to disappear, or for the "parent" to tell serious lies about the child's parentage. Also deaths - murder or manslaughter could be covered up if there was a complete privacy policy.

I agree though, it does feel invasive to get the certificates of living people and I don't think I have ever done it.

The fact that certificates are not free is possibly a barrier to the idle nosey parker!

OC