A few more thoughts: Marriage licenses have always been public record, but until the age of computers, those records were usually only available for viewing in the county where they were issued at the county clerk/recorder's office. Birth certificates have always been theoretically publicly available, but you had to know a few details when contacting the state in order to get a copy. Your own voter registration is a matter of public record and can be viewed by anyone who asks to see it. Offhand, I can't think of any licensed individual in the state of California whose license is not a matter of public record (for the reason you mentioned, among others).
Some people pride themselves on being untraceable because they use unlisted numbers, and P.O. boxes for mail and credit (or have no credit), but they can be found pretty easily with a search through the voter registrations because they must list a physical address in order to vote. Of course, they could simply not register to vote, but I'm not sure how many realize how easy it is to find them that way. (BTW, since the original of the voter registration card is always on file for comparison purposes, it is pretty easy to get a very good facsimile of their signature while getting their address ;-)
If you want information about anyone who was born, married, or died in California after 1947, visit www.ancestry.com and check their database thoughtfully provided by the state. |
