Cause of death?

[StarryNight]

If you want to change something that's been standard for centuries you need to present good reasons for doing so.
What's the point of not having a cause of death listed on a death cert?

[Apple]

Do you ever read a thread and agree with both sides? I am a bit uneasy about this being made public but I can see why at the same time.

[StarryNight]

I can see why people don't want what they consider private information in the public domain but I don't think those reasons are good enough to change the current system!

[Torbreck]

Again, your not making a case for why anyone in the public should be able to access it for individuals. You're talking about mortality/morbidity stats and big data - fine. Then let whoever is compiling them use anonymised data on causes of death in the population - like marketing & insurance companies have to do on living people's data.

Im still not seeing why the public needs to be able to access individual causes of death.

Under GDPR when you're living it's not just personal data, but specially categorised as extra sensitive. Then as soon as you die it's out there for the world? I'm atheist so I don't mind personally but it's going to be reasonably upsetting for some people.

Going REALLY off course here, but I'm reminded of the film Behind the Candelabra where Liberace didn't want anyone knowing he had AIDS then as soon as he died the police announced it as his cause of death in a press release.

It's in the public interest to know x% of the population died from TB, say. No one needs to know the x% included Jim Murphy of 123 fake St, kerry for example

I suppose on a very practical level, the current system makes sense. Otherwise, the state would have to maintain two registers - one with the cause of death, and one without.
That seems cumbersome and unnecessary.

On the whole, it is imo better that the information is publicly available, that people can't hide cause of death (to friends or family who may be concerned) for whatever reason. By not including the cause of death, you leave it open to speculation that the death may have been unnatural /suspicious.
This way, everything is on the open.

[Howiya Ma]

If you want to change something that's been standard for centuries you need to present good reasons for doing so.
What's the point of not having a cause of death listed on a death cert?

*groan*

I've already explained, literally in the post above yours Starry.

and I covered the 'but this is how it's always been' argument on page 2.

[StarryNight]

No need to groan. I just don't accept you've made a good case for changing the current system.

[Kensington]

I suppose on a very practical level, the current system makes sense. Otherwise, the state would have to maintain two registers - one with the cause of death, and one without.
That seems cumbersome and unnecessary.

I agree with this. I don't think preserving this small slice of privacy for the dead is worth the burden that would be put on the state. And as someone pointed out already, birth and marriage certificates also include personal information and are available to all (well except for adopted adults who are refused access to their own birth certificates).

[August]

Do you ever read a thread and agree with both sides? I am a bit uneasy about this being made public but I can see why at the same time.

I do. I’m not familiar with how death certificates are worded but perhaps they are sufficiently brief to avoid or minimize detail that might embarrass either the living or the dead?

I’m an atheist too but I don’t feel that makes any difference to potential concerns about privacy after death. I think many (most?) people care about what others think/know about them. Being unaware in death is not that dissimilar to being unaware in life really. In both cases we don’t know what is known about us.

[Kensington]

Being unaware in death is not that dissimilar to being unaware in life really. In both cases we don’t know what is known about us.

That reminds me of a review of a biography I read recently (the subject was not a pleasant person) - it said "his wife must have hated him very much not to burn these letters and diaries"

Where does it end I wonder? For example the census data might be sensitive too. We can see who could read and write back in 1911 - maybe the ones who were illiterate would hate for everyone to know that about them?

[Torbreck]

I suppose as citizens being on registers is part of the social contract.
After all, Mary & Joseph heading off to Bethlehem to register for the census when JC was born.

I don't know why my marriage cert has to have my profession on it, but it does. Anyone could look that up, I suppose, but seriously, has anyone here ever looked someone else's birth/marriage or death cert?
(Who has the time!)
I love looking up the 1911 census - there is so much information contained in, what on first glance looks like a simple document. THough I can't imagine anyone would be looking me up now or in a 100 years.

[August]

Being unaware in death is not that dissimilar to being unaware in life really. In both cases we don’t know what is known about us.

That reminds me of a review of a biography I read recently (the subject was not a pleasant person) - it said "his wife must have hated him very much not to burn these letters and diaries"

Where does it end I wonder? For example the census data might be sensitive too. We can see who could read and write back in 1911 - maybe the ones who were illiterate would hate for everyone to know that about them?

The census data is only released when most people around at the time and certainly anyone who might remember that time is likely to be dead.

I don’t disagree with death certificates being public. I was just making the point about a degree of privacy still being relevant to many people after their death.

[Kensington]

The census data is only released when most people around at the time and certainly anyone who might remember that time is likely to be dead.

excuse me! My godfather appeared in the 1911 census. Are you saying I'm old enough to be well dead

[CockChoker]

The census data is only released when most people around at the time and certainly anyone who might remember that time is likely to be dead.

excuse me! My godfather appeared in the 1911 census. Are you saying I'm old enough to be well dead

Do you feel that old? Were you around back then to remember it?

[Kensington]

Well I remember him

[Milis]

In what way could someone’s death possibly be embarrassing to their family? I can’t think of any reason. Is there one?

As an example, a lot of families are embarrassed about cancer in general, and moreso about specific types of cancer. Given the comments of a dr to a cervical cancer patient about how nuns don’t get cervical cancer, that’s understandable.