Release Census Early Campaign - Please read & reply !

[Guy Etchells]

An identity card would not make the slightest bit of difference to me.........except I wouldn't be prepared to pay for it.
They know more about us than we think!!
Anyone is welcome to look up my census details

Sue

An Identity Card could make one heck of a lot of difference to you if it contained your biometrics.
Once criminals hack into the central database containing the bio-metric details they will have the facility to carry out the perfect crime.
Crimes carried out using your fingerprints or your iris scans thereby proving conclusively that you carried out the crime.
Once such details are in the hands of criminals they can never revoked therefore you could never be use them for identity purposes. Think of the consequences of that.
Think it could never happen, then check the governments record on IT provision.
Cheers
Guy

[ryan]

Crimes carried out using my fingerprints or iris scans - I seriously doubt it. Very few people have the know-how and practical skills required to pull-off such a stunt. Anyways, the technology and software I presume would be required to utilize 'hijacked' bio-metric details will be easily traceable from the moment of purchase. I don't see that happening (unless I watch a James Bond film ). Anyways ID cards seem pointless to me - what practical anti-terrorism uses can they possibly entail? A giant waste of money, I think.

More to the point of this topic - I completely agree with the issues that Guy & Jan insightfully raised in the first handfull of replies. I do believe the 1911 or even the 1921 census information should be made available to us - the consumer. There is great consumer demand for the 1911 census in the "census market" so it might as well be released. The real question here is what do we have to loose by divulging the 1911 census information? I believe the answer is NOTHING. All family history researchers, as well as the Government will benefit from this. I don't see any group of people here loosing out.

Ryan.

[Little Nell]

But WE (i.e. family historians) are not the CONSUMER for whom that information was intended.  A census is a statistical survey taken for the government of the day so that they can plan (ahem) future needs e.g. housing, health care, schools etc.  That's why they no longer ask the same questions that used to be asked.  Life got far more complicated and they already have the basic stuff anyway.  How many numbers are we now represented by.  Even the number on my birth certificate is no longer my NHS number - it's now some huge great long number 

We are now using the census for purposes that were never thought of when the Victorians started along this road.  The original purpose needs to be remembered.  If it wasn't for future generations to look up everything about everyone else in the country, then perhaps the powers that be have it right for a change 

Nell

[smeghead]

What ever reason the census was taken for in the first place makes no difference This is historical information that should be allowed to be used for historical purposes eg family historians the government could even charge us  and the  money made could be put to something usefull eg nhs, Olympic games or the cost of id cards.

                                              Jim

[ryan]

Exactly Jim.

Little Nell - Yes, that is true. But isn't it also true that the Government has learnt all that it can from these censuses? Isn't it fair that we should have the same opportunity to learn from them? After all - they are OUR ancestors. "Consumer" and "Market" was simply a way for me to convey my opinion about this.

Ryan.

[Guy Etchells]

Crimes carried out using my fingerprints or iris scans - I seriously doubt it. Very few people have the know-how and practical skills required to pull-off such a stunt. Anyways, the technology and software I presume would be required to utilize 'hijacked' bio-metric details will be easily traceable from the moment of purchase. I don't see that happening (unless I watch a James Bond film ). Anyways ID cards seem pointless to me - what practical anti-terrorism uses can they possibly entail? A giant waste of money, I think.


Ryan.

You mean in the same way as the software and the technology required to scan ones smart credit card whilst it is in your pocket would be easily traceable? Perhaps so but it exists today and is used by criminals as we write.
It was not just me being fanciful, those fears were expressed by experts in the security field who know and understand information technology unlike the government who don't.

With regard to the 1911 census the real reason it is being witheld as long as possible is that the enumeration books are in a total mess due to poor storage, a mess that will take years to sort out.
Cheers
Guy

[MaryA]

And just to add a happorth - The Government and the GRO working together are in the process of producing a database which will contain ALL useful (to whom?) data about a person.

From the moment of birth, when the entry will be made probably by the hospital, the name will only be needed as confirmation later when the birth is registered by the parent to match up with the entry, following through other moments in life, including NI numbers, marriage, death etc.

This will be happening in the foreseeable future.

Mary

[Sylviaann]

Do you know that is was only 15 years ago when we were all thrilled that the 1881 census was available at our local LDS family history centre.

Joy when it came on line.

The 1891 census was available at the same place on Microfiche in 1991.  What excitement searching through fiche after fiche.  The only index was of Streets and they weren't always accurate.

When 1901 came on line there were so many hits it broke down and we had to wait 6 months to be able to view it.

YET without a computer I still managed to get all sides of my family back to 1837.  How on earth did I do it?   

Sylviaann

[RJ_Paton]

It's also rumoured that because of poor storage etc that the records of the 1911 census will be patchy at best.