Second Opinion on Scanning and Posting Documents

Last week I also contacted the Director, Office of Vital Records and Statistics for Utah about posting scanned documents online. Here is the contents of our e-mail conversation.

Mark:

I have a copy of a 1927 death certificate for my great-grandfather that I would like to scan and post on my website that tracks my genealogy research. Is that legal? If it is not legal, can I post a complete transcription? Or can I just post an abstract with source information of where they can get a copy? I would like to do the same thing with birth and marriage records.

Director:

You are legally entitled to do whatever you want with the certificate, including posting it on the website. If it were a current death I would advise against it, but since it's from 1927 I think you'll have no problems. Same with marriage and divorce. Let me know if you have any more questions.

Mark:

Thank you very much for your reply. Are there any guidelines for when records shouldn't be published? The census records are available for 1930. In your opinion would any records - birth, marriage, divorce, and death that occurred before 1930 be "safe" to post online? Also, are you aware if there are laws in other states that might go against the advice you have given. I understand that you might not know about other states, but am wondering if there is any "buzz" about what is happening elsewhere.

Director:

I'm not aware of any guidelines. The big fear here would be releasing information that someone could use, perhaps to steal an identity. If the subjects of the records are deceased and have been for some years, then you should be okay. Legally, I think if you own the record you are entitled to release its contents. Laws vary from state to state, but most laws protect your record from me (government) releasing your record to someone who shouldn't have it. Once you have the record, you can do whatever you want with it. Some states even consider vital records to be public information--anyone can go get a copy of anyone else's certificate. That is scary in this day and age. The bottom line is, if you aren't publishing information about living persons then you should be okay.

I am glad that this and the DearMYRTLE answer agree. I can now proceed with confidence and caution to documenting my research online.