Technology Paves the Way for Researchers
On a television broadcast yesterday, I heard one of the announcers say something about legislation to be voted on in Congress. A new law would attempt to limit the amount of personal information that is made available to the public via software programs that share public records that may sometimes include Social Security numbers of the deceased. Supposedly, the availability of that information is leading to more and more cases of identity theft.
I don’t know whether that is true or not. It seems a bit of a stretch to think of anyone signing up to use an online genealogy base to gather data for a devious and illegal purpose. Thieves being thieves, I would not be surprised, but on the other hand, why punish the multitudes by denying them research information when there are potentially a few “bad apples” who would take advantage of information.
Another question arises and that is why the government is not “on top” of any situation in which anyone would try to use the Social Security number of a deceased party.
Then again, someone hacked into the Social Security information of three major political party contenders for the office of president, so what does this tell us about overall electronic security at the governmental level?
Electronic Mix Ups Common
I am happy to report that my mixed-up credit report is now repaired. It pays to check such things, periodically. Someone recorded a wrong middle initial and suddenly I’d moved 21 times within a few years, had two husbands at the same time, and didn’t pay on some of my credit accounts.
All is well now, after assuring the credit reporting agency that I have lived at the same address for quarter of a century, and with the same husband, and that my middle initial is not the one listed on the initial report.
True enough, we should be vigilant about our personal information. That includes knowing who is around when you pull out a credit card or write a check. Cell phones can take photos, in a flash, and someone can easily access vital credit card or bank account numbers. It would be nice to think that everyone is honest. They are not.
We have to hope that technology will continue to lead the way in assisting researchers by sharing great information about events of the past that have been recorded electronically.
Instead of passing more laws such as the one proposed, perhaps there could be more incentives for government workers to more adequately protect the public-at-large. We have come so far in make vital records available to the general public. Why take a step backward, now?
Patricia Cummings
