[or-roots] HB 2093

[Kith-n-Kin]

Please, guys, don't get me wrong. "Obviously" here in Tucson we are also big on "heritage tourism."  But if "I" can find an argument that this won't affect tourism, so can someone else.   

 

Do people travel to Arizona because you can look up records on the internet? To Missouri because you can see dcs on the internet up to 1962? Probably not.

 

How many people are going to travel to Oregon "just" to get the records. Do you know? You should. I think that it's not too many, unless they have a whole bunch of records to get.  But how many will "add" this to a trip plan? Does the Archives keep stats on both where visitors are from, and what records they are accessing? Does the Bureau of Health? 

 

Last time I stopped by the archives (going from a basketball game in Eugene, back to Portland), my goal was to get one death certificate, and one other record, because the stop was convenient. 

Because I was already there, I took the time to look up, and retrieve, about eight others ($4 in copy fees). THAT is a significant savings over sending to the Archives from home and paying the staff to do that for me (+-$80).   Considering the number of records a person might need, that would make it worth it to plan a day or two at the archives.   

 

On other trips I have spent a day at the Mt. Angel archives, the Marion County Court records, trekking all over the place for cemeteries and property. . . .    THAT is also, and primarily "heritage tourism." What I can do on the computer, and save $1500 in travel, becomes a "nice to do," not a "have to do." 

 

My point is that when you are going to the legislature about the dates of access to records, you need to have your Canada Geese in a row.  This is, or should be, NOT an emotional issue, but when tourism goes up against privacy, guess who is going to win that argument. 

 

Suggest putting your guns where they do the most good, and that is discounting the myth that family history records are the source of identity theft!   There are plenty of studies "out there" that give the sources of identity theft, and a couple of great ones where genealogy was blamed, and later exonerated.  That needs to get to the legislature.   I just did a basic Google using < "identity theft" genealogy > and found thousands of hits. Some are preventative, some are selling you something, but a few are analyses of the problem.  One thing I found out is the ever expanding definition of "identity theft." Previously, I would think of ID theft as someone getting a credit card, loan, job, passport, access to my safe deposit box, or some other such activity. The biggest ID theft (as I understood it) was finding and using SSNs by people to get jobs. It didn't matter whether or not the person with the SSN was dead or alive, and there was no loss to the "victim" as the money just keeps flowing into his/her SS account. This was popular (may be still is) in the immigrant communities, where legitimate SSNs are hard to come by, on account of legal status. The primary source of information (SSNs, personal information) as I understand it, was trash and personal observation. 

Much has changed. 

One  blog on the subject I particularly like is: 

http://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/2013/02/genealogy-and-identity-theft.html 

I had no idea I had been the "victim" of identity theft (on the way back from Oregon, as the matter of fact) when my credit card information was lifted in a restaurant in the Las Vegas airport. Maybe a lesson on what ID theft is, and isn't, would help your legislature.  

And, Dick Eastman: http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2011/11/the-easy-way-to-commit-identity-theft.html 

 

BTW, just went on the Archives site. Birth records are currently restricted for 100 years. Death for 50 years.  Could some logical person explain to me the difference of five years on the birth certificates? Really???? 

 

Pat

 

From: or-roots-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us [mailto:or-roots-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us] On Behalf Of Glen Jones
Sent: Friday, April 05, 2013 4:08 PM
To: or-roots mail list
Subject: Re: [or-roots] HB 2093

 

A study was recently done and Heritage Tourism is the number one reason

people visited Oregon.

The study was commissioned by the Oregon Heritage Commission.

 

Glen Jones

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