WorldVitalRecords.com Adds 77 Million Geocoded Records

The following is an announcement from WorldVitalRecords.com:

July 4, 2006 ( Provo, UT ) -- WorldVitalRecords.com added the first databases to its genealogy site today, providing users with access to 77 million geocoded records, including the Death Master File (DMF), commonly known in the genealogy industry as the SSDI.

"I don't know of anyone else right now who is doing map mashups with genealogy data. When you just receive the latitude and longitude numbers or zip codes, they don t make a lot of sense to anyone, but when you see the city on a map along with the neighboring counties, it provides a special representation of where the individual died," said Jimmy Zimmerman, Developer, Provo Labs (former parent company of WorldVitalRecords.com).

When a user types in a surname of an individual, the location of that individual's death, as well as the deaths of other individuals in the local area, is automatically geocoded. Users can see the area from a satellite view, as well as a hybrid view. Many search results also link to historical timeline data.

"Currently what we have implemented is the ability for users to visually see the city and neighboring counties on a map where their ancestors lived, which is a huge benefit to researchers. The historical timeline data also adds an extra element of context," said John Ivie, Senior Engineer, WorldVitalRecords.com.

Individuals interested in exploring the geocoded databases should go to http://www.worldvitalrecords.com.

About WorldVitalRecords.com

Finding your ancestors can be overwhelming, and expensive. At WorldVitalRecords.com, we've made it easy and affordable for individuals to connect to their families and find answers to their genealogical questions. Led by Paul Allen, who after founding Ancestry.com, which became the largest genealogy company in the world, now aims to be the number two player in the genealogy industry with WorldVitalRecords.com. WorldVitalRecords.com will offer users international record databases, references to top genealogical resources, a blog planet, podcasts, videocasts, Webinars, expert advice, training, and user-generated content.

Comments

[Yvette Arts]

Many of you who went to Chicago for the 2006 NGS Conference in the States have been waiting and watching with us as we have worked to post some data to our site for the pre-launch of the WorldVitalRecords.com website.

We said that on July 3 we would start putting up some data sets. And yesterday we announced through a press release that we were launching three small sets that were geocoded. Those were ready to launch yesterday, but as some of you affiliated with the technological aspect of providing such a service have experienced, sometimes a small glitch in the system can set back even the best of intentions.

So, we are working to get everything in order to provide the services we have set out to offer. Please take a look at our first blog entry that explains more about what the site will include. We plan to have our big international launch in October.

Thanks again for your interest as we steadily work behind the scenes to provide you with the some of the best services and information in the industry.

Yvette Arts
Executive Vice President
WorldVitalRecords.com

[Dale]

I am concerned that Social Security numbers are shown on WorldVitalRecords.com for deceased individuals.

Just an easier method for ID theft :-(

[Dick Eastman]

Social Security Numbers for deceased individuals are public domain information. That information is (properly) made public by the U.S. government and is published in many places. One of the reasons for doing that is to PREVENT identity theft.

State drivers' licenses and other forms of identifiction are supposed to be issued only AFTER a check is made of the applicant's Social Security Number to make sure it isn't that of a deceased person. The verification check can only be done if those numbers are published.

Stopping the publishing of Social Security Numbers will actually aid identity theft.