UK births, marriages, deaths records to move to India

The Office of National Statistics (ONS) is to outsource a new database containing 250 million births, marriages and deaths records to India as part of a deal with Siemens Business Services (SBS).

The database will be created by digitising paper records and centralising existing disparate indexes and systems for the UK population dating back to 1837.

The ONS is currently in final contract negotiations after choosing SBS as preferred bidder for the work and expects to sign a deal by mid-July. It said the value of the contract is "commercially confidential".

The UK Passport Service also plans to link up to the database for cross-reference checking of passport applications to help cut down on the submission of forged or fraudulent documents.

Much of the records work is currently done in Southport but under SBS the records will be transferred electronically via an encrypted virtual private network link to be indexed by workers at a facility in Chennai (formerly Madras) in India.

A spokeswoman from the ONS said putting the records online will aid genealogists tracing family histories. She dismissed claims from public sector union PCS that the move will put sensitive information at risk.

"These are public documents that are already in the public domain. People have no need to be worried," she told silicon.com.