Companies House and Publicly Disclosing Directors Date of Birth

loveandlight

My date of birth now appears as public record at companies house for a company I own. I am usually extremely careful to ensure almost nobody has that info unless absolute necessary for obvious security reasons.

I know on the annual paper returns it used to clearly say if you gave your DOB it would be publicly disclosed.

Does anyone know if it says the same thing with the online annual return forms as I can't see that it does and today I've just noticed that my DOB is now online for the whole world to see:o

loveandlight

Wow 45 visitors to this post and I'm surprised no-one knows the answer to this. I'll guess I'll just have to call Companies House on Monday instead and insist they remove my date of birth details from the public record as I haven't agreed to it.

AMG762

I know this doesnt help but it is easy to find the Name, Home Address, and Date of Birth for all the directors of any company. The information is readily available and not just directly from Companies House

nickj_2

in this day and age it shouldn't happen , especially as most people you deal with ask for DoB for security checks ,

loveandlight

I know it could be available elsewhere (which is how I came across it) but it would stem from Companies House being the main source of information in the first place. It's one thing having to dig around for someone elses DOB but another to find it jumps out at you as soon as a persons name or their company name are put into the search engine as is happening with mine. I definitely need to do something about this as otherwise it could have some serious repercussions for me.

Savvy_Sue

I can't find anything definitive on their website, unless you're 'under threat' and I'm not even clear if that only applies to withholding your residential address, so I think a phone call is the way to go.

anamenottaken

loveandlight wrote: »

I definitely need to do something about this as otherwise it could have some serious repercussions for me.

I'm nosey, I know, but what sort of serious repercussions could there be for some truth about yourself being publicly visible?

loveandlight

This is not an issue about truth anamenottaken but more about protecting oneself.

Pennywise

I think you'll find that the companies act requires directors to give their dob and that it is a public record. You'll need to lobby your mp for a change in the law if you don't like the current law. Can't see what you'll achieve by phoning co house as they only enforce the law, not make it.

bengalknights

If you want all your details hidden then you should opt for a nominee director service and appoint them the director with you staying shareholder.

loveandlight

Thanks bengalknights that's good constructive advice. I'll obviously have to do something like that if need be. Pennywise you might be surprised to learn that Companies House are actually very helpful and they will try and help you come up with a solution. The point you're missing is that you could choose for your DOB to be kept off the public record when it was a paper filing so I think a boo boo has happened with this Companies House new online filing stuff.

Some people don't care about becoming fraud victims if it happened to them and I'm obviously from the group who do care particularly as my business holds client account money and I have a duty to my clients to protect their money at all times.