1939 register - closing an open identity

[PrawnCocktail]

I got in touch with FindMyPast this morning, and they are "investigating", and told me that either they will close the entries within 48 hours, or I will have to use the button requesting closure (with, of course, the required documentary proof of life!)

[andrewalston]

I found that my mum's entry had been opened recently, even though she is still very much alive. That of her elder sister, now 90, was still closed.

I checked against the death registrations, and no record matched well. Her entry doesn't mention her 1951 marriage, and there was no death registration for anyone with her birth name and a d.o.b. within a year of hers.

I emailed FindMyPast telling them that although my mum is quite happy to have her details on view, they should use the record to improve the algorithm used to decide which records should be opened.

They responded very quickly, closing off her record and promising to pass on the details to the relevant team.

[teddygreen1]

im beaman sister and it annoys me that i have to prove my dad is still alive with a document bearing his signature and date of birth such as passport / driving licence.which he has neither !!!

[groom]

im beaman sister and it annoys me that i have to prove my dad is still alive with a document bearing his signature and date of birth such as passport / driving licence.which he has neither !!!

Refuse to do it - throw it back at FindMyPast that it is their duty to prove that he is isn't alive, not yours to prove that he is. I can't really see how a document with his signature on proves it anyway, especially as a passport lasts for 10 years. Offer to give them the name of his doctor or better still his solicitor. 

[TaniaM]

I do realise that some may find it very sensitive but when I told my 88 year old father that he was visible on the 1939 register he burst out laughing and asked to see the entry.  He wasn't in the least bit bothered and was actually quite pleased to be able to see something like that.  I will therefore not be requesting closure.

[lanercost]

I do realise that some may find it very sensitive but when I told my 88 year old father that he was visible on the 1939 register he burst out laughing and asked to see the entry.  He wasn't in the least bit bothered and was actually quite pleased to be able to see something like that.  I will therefore not be requesting closure.

I think everyone else is over-sensitive. I imagine most people alive prior to 1939 would feel the same as your father

[Rosinish]

But how many of the request to close records have been from the person themselves.
The majority seem to come from third parties not the data subject.

Come on Guy,

How many people of a certain age would be on a comp. doing family tree to notice...be real & take into account ages of the people concerned & their kids who are doing 'their' genealogy not to mention that some of the 'open' people probably suffer dementia or similar, frail & not a clue what the '1939' is/was.

Why do you always have to be so negative...if one says black, you say white  Try grey, an in between & look at things from both sides i.e. positives & negatives but don't forget to include ages here!

I would love to find some of mine on the 'open' register (I'm sure we all would) but some people are more protective than others.
Personally, if I found a living person 'open' I'd be over the moon but my research is just that for genealogy purposes.
There are criminals out there who would go to the ends of the earth to find out things & as we know, it's not too hard is it?

Annie

[vrvt]

I have a very much living 90 year old great aunt whose record has been opened, I have enquired from FindMyPast why. I could understand that with common names, entries for multiple people with the same name and birthdate could get opened incorrectly, but the individual in question has a very unusual name. In the latest batches of opened records it certainly seems there are a few bugs in FindMyPast's algorithm for opening records.

[Rosinish]

I think everyone else is over-sensitive. I imagine most people alive prior to 1939 would feel the same as your father

'Most' but not all as there are many things that even direct families of these people wouldn't know & other's shouldn't know.

I am not agreeing/disagreeing with anyone who wants the record closed on a living person as it's a personal choice but I do object to the 'protocol' of FindMyPast & the people in question having to prove their relative is still alive as they should be proving they're deceased!
Their own website stipulates the boundaries if you like but they are not working within those boundaries with the people who do have complaints, which they should by law as it's themselves who are breaking the law at the end of the day.

Annie