California Birth Index

The California Birth Index (CABI) is a database compiled by the California Office of Health Information and Research. The index contains birth records of all registered births in California between 1905 and 1995. Each record is an abstract of a person's birth certificate, including date of birth, full name [Full name for those born 1925-1955 and 1978-1995. Only middle initial for the rest.] , county of birth, gender, and mother's maiden name. People who have been adopted are sometimes listed by their birth name, sometimes listed by their adopted name and sometimes not listed at all. The CABI is considered a valuable genealogy tool but is also criticised for privacy issues.

Controversy

Critics of the index have claimed that the index's information aides in identity theft.Stefanie Olsen. [http://news.com.com/Identity+crisis+Birth+records+online/2100-1023_3-276533.html Identity crisis: Birth records online] . CNET News. 3 December 2001.] Several public record websites have purchased copies of the index from the California Department of Health Services, typically priced at US$900. In 2001, the "San Jose Mercury News" printed a story about the index, then accessible on genealogical website Rootsweb, causing numerous complaints and requests for removal from the index, and ultimately leading to the index being removed from the site.

The California Birth Index, along with the California Death Index, used to be available for free from Rootsweb. When Rootsweb was purchased by Ancestry.com, the index remained available for a time, but then was pulled by Ancestry due to complaints about privacy concerns. The index was then only available through VitalSearch and later through Family Tree Legends. Ancestry has restored the index to their content, but has not restored the thousands of notes by users posted in the index when it was running as part of Rootsweb.

References

ee also

*Social Security Death Index

External links

* [http://www.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=5247 The California Birth Index] at Ancestry.com (requires subscription)
* [http://www.familytreelegends.com/records/39461 California births] at Family Tree Legends
* [http://www.vitalsearch-ca.com/ VitalSearch-California(USA):California State Vital Records] (Username: vitalguest ; Password: enjoy)