Access to NYC Records

[Allan Jordan aejordan@aol.com]

X-No-archive: yes
There is a lot of confusion and misinformation about the efforts by the NYC
Health Department related to its privacy rules and limitations on the access
to vital records for New York City.

The changes to the privacy rules only impact the future transfer of information
from Health Department and the release of information while it is in the Health
Department's control.

The change impacts birth and death records which will now be sealed up to 125
years. According to the Municipal Archives they have no plans to change their
current access to information in their control.

Further this does not chance the current access because the Health Department
had not been transferring information to the Archives or other sources despite
some information in theory being outside the old privacy regulations. Further,
the Health Department had also been enforcing its privacy rules on everything
it held regardless of the age of the information and previously established
privacy rules.

Marriage records are not included in this change in policy because the Health
Department does not control any historic marriage records. The Health
Department stopped issuing marriage certificates in 1937 and all of those are
already at the Archives. The Marriage license files through 1949 are also at
the Archives and the later ones at at the City Clerk's office in its marriage
bureau. Currently the City Clerk has a 50 years privacy rules and I am not
aware of any intent to change that rule.

Clearly this change is a disappointment as it limits future access or
additional information coming into the public domain but it does not
retroactively impact information already in the public domain.

Allan Jordan
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