4 ms·

The bit about birth certificates isnt all true - mine is from California, its on intaglio paper, with watermarks, and embossing - that particular paper (a certi

by Aloha 9y ago

The bit about birth certificates isnt all true - mine is from California, its on intaglio paper, with watermarks, and embossing - that particular paper (a certified long form) would be hard to copy.

justin66 9y ago
I had one like that. Nowadays they issue replacements on much plainer paper that goes through a laser printer. It's notarized, but nothing about it would be difficult to counterfeit.
- Aloha 9y ago
  I think you may have gotten a replacement when CA was short on the correct paper. http://www.ocregister.com/2015/11/25/paper-shortage-puts-birth-death-and-marriage-certificates-in-short-supply-for-orange-county/ http://www.ocregister.com/2015/11/25/paper-shortage-puts-bir...
- CodeWriter23 9y ago
  The certificate isn't the proof. Cross-referencing it with a Country Registrar's computerized records is.
  - Declanomous 9y ago
    You could be like a familial relation of mine, who didn't have a social security card, driver's license, or birth certificate. He lost them a long time ago. Birth certificate was impossible to replace because the courthouse or whatever burned down before the records were computerized. You can't get a social security card without a driver's license, and vice versa. He literally had tried almost everything. In the end another family member photoshopped a social security card so he could get a driver's license, which he used to get an actual social security card. The whole system is stupid as hell. It's easier to navigate if you lie than if you act truthfully.
  - justin66 9y ago
    Well, right, it's not even a unique document. Multiple, equally valid birth certificates can exist. As a form of ID, it's not great. A passport or drivers license is much better because the issuer put a picture on it and already did the checking to make sure the birth certificate and social security card were valid.
- silencio 9y ago
  I got a few copies of my daughter's (California) birth certificate a few months ago and it was printed with a laser printer. But: the border of the papers were intaglio printed, each certificate has a unique barcode, and was embossed. You could counterfeit it but it seems like a fair amount of work and would have issues with the unique ID on each one.
  - Aloha 9y ago
    Yeah, this is what I have as well, mine is over a decade old however.
- Domenic_S 9y ago
  Depends on where you get it. My replacement is laser printed and notarized on very fancy certificate paper (California).
techsupporter 9y ago
You're right, but so is OP because you had to write "isn't all true." My perfectly valid, accepted by the State Department for a passport and by a federal agency for a rather intensive background check, birth certificate was issued by what was then a tiny town in north Texas, just after that city had gotten large enough to have its own birth registry. It is hand-typed and has a raised seal that is now mostly flat due to age. It doesn't even have a unique identifier. It says it is recorded in "book 2, page 19" and there are three other birth entries on that same page. I got to see the original book when I went asking about it out of curiosity. The only not-on-paper copy of it is on a microfiche roll at the new city hall. I've checked; they've not yet gotten around to digitizing records from my year of birth. Consequently, I can't order a copy of my birth certificate electronically from out-of-state. I have to mail in a paper form. The copy I get back is fantastically secure: microprinting, holographic seals, and a QR code unique ID. But the original, which is still good for everything, has none of those. Maybe new birth certificates are standard but there are literally dozens of us who are still in our prime working years of life that have "proof of birth" paperwork that can be fabricated by anyone who knows how to type.
chrononaut 9y ago
I think the parent is stating that it's simply very inconsistent and not standardized. I can anecdotally tell you that my birth certificate would be trivial to forge or duplicate as it lacks all features you just described, and was produced in the last decade.

by Aloha 9y ago

The bit about birth certificates isnt all true - mine is from California, its on intaglio paper, with watermarks, and embossing - that particular paper (a certified long form) would be hard to copy.

justin66 9y ago

I had one like that. Nowadays they issue replacements on much plainer paper that goes through a laser printer. It's notarized, but nothing about it would be difficult to counterfeit.

Aloha 9y ago
I think you may have gotten a replacement when CA was short on the correct paper. http://www.ocregister.com/2015/11/25/paper-shortage-puts-birth-death-and-marriage-certificates-in-short-supply-for-orange-county/ http://www.ocregister.com/2015/11/25/paper-shortage-puts-bir...
CodeWriter23 9y ago
The certificate isn't the proof. Cross-referencing it with a Country Registrar's computerized records is.
- Declanomous 9y ago
  You could be like a familial relation of mine, who didn't have a social security card, driver's license, or birth certificate. He lost them a long time ago. Birth certificate was impossible to replace because the courthouse or whatever burned down before the records were computerized. You can't get a social security card without a driver's license, and vice versa. He literally had tried almost everything. In the end another family member photoshopped a social security card so he could get a driver's license, which he used to get an actual social security card. The whole system is stupid as hell. It's easier to navigate if you lie than if you act truthfully.
- justin66 9y ago
  Well, right, it's not even a unique document. Multiple, equally valid birth certificates can exist. As a form of ID, it's not great. A passport or drivers license is much better because the issuer put a picture on it and already did the checking to make sure the birth certificate and social security card were valid.
silencio 9y ago
I got a few copies of my daughter's (California) birth certificate a few months ago and it was printed with a laser printer. But: the border of the papers were intaglio printed, each certificate has a unique barcode, and was embossed. You could counterfeit it but it seems like a fair amount of work and would have issues with the unique ID on each one.
- Aloha 9y ago
  Yeah, this is what I have as well, mine is over a decade old however.
Domenic_S 9y ago
Depends on where you get it. My replacement is laser printed and notarized on very fancy certificate paper (California).

techsupporter 9y ago

You're right, but so is OP because you had to write "isn't all true." My perfectly valid, accepted by the State Department for a passport and by a federal agency for a rather intensive background check, birth certificate was issued by what was then a tiny town in north Texas, just after that city had gotten large enough to have its own birth registry. It is hand-typed and has a raised seal that is now mostly flat due to age. It doesn't even have a unique identifier. It says it is recorded in "book 2, page 19" and there are three other birth entries on that same page. I got to see the original book when I went asking about it out of curiosity. The only not-on-paper copy of it is on a microfiche roll at the new city hall. I've checked; they've not yet gotten around to digitizing records from my year of birth. Consequently, I can't order a copy of my birth certificate electronically from out-of-state. I have to mail in a paper form. The copy I get back is fantastically secure: microprinting, holographic seals, and a QR code unique ID. But the original, which is still good for everything, has none of those. Maybe new birth certificates are standard but there are literally dozens of us who are still in our prime working years of life that have "proof of birth" paperwork that can be fabricated by anyone who knows how to type.

chrononaut 9y ago

I think the parent is stating that it's simply very inconsistent and not standardized. I can anecdotally tell you that my birth certificate would be trivial to forge or duplicate as it lacks all features you just described, and was produced in the last decade.