How could BC be public record? That could lead to a lot of ID theft, no?
I said “for practical purposes.”
I may not be able to take or make a copy of your birth certificate, but in many states I have a right, either through a FOIA request or other state mechanisms to look at or review the birth documents. Genealogical researches use these rules all the time, as do private investigators and the like.
HI seems to be very unusual in that they don’t allow access to the information at all, except by the individual, there legal guardian or representative or a direct genealogical decedent. This is standard is, I believe, unique in the US.