Can't delete my info as director on companies house, how can I alter it ?

textbook

Apparently I can't delete my info off the director info on companies house.  I logged in and it enabled me to change my name, address etc but not my date of birth, how do I delete or change date of birth?

I think it's awful that your personal info is on the web and you have to go to court to get it removed.   What if someone wants to find you etc and you don't want finding   Your personal info should be private.   I shortened my name- Matthew to Mat but surname is the same but maybe that will put someone off the scent

Saying that-there is a section which says- edit or remove.   If I click remove will all my info be removed?   I don't want to resign though.

Jeremy535897

For more recent entries, only your month of birth should be shown, not the day. Is that your situation? If it is, there is nothing you can do (even resigning), as the details seem to be on the system forever.

If there are filed documents (dated several years ago) that show details like your actual date of birth, or signature (it is unbelievable what Companies House let the public see), apparently you can pay £50 or so per item to have such details redacted.

You couldn't make it up...

Undervalued

Surely the whole point of companies is that some information is in the public domain. Being a director of a limited company gives you certain protection that a sole trader doesn't have (limited liability). 

Because of that, those who choose to deal with limited companies are entitled to certain information too, such as who exactly are (or have been) directors and how they can be contacted.

It has been like that for as long as I can remember and if you are not happy to have that information in the public domain then you shouldn't have become a director of a limited company!

Jeremy535897

Undervalued said:

Surely the whole point of companies is that some information is in the public domain. Being a director of a limited company gives you certain protection that a sole trader doesn't have (limited liability). 

Because of that, those who choose to deal with limited companies are entitled to certain information too, such as who exactly are (or have been) directors and how they can be contacted.

It has been like that for as long as I can remember and if you are not happy to have that information in the public domain then you shouldn't have become a director of a limited company!

Some people have no desire to become company directors, but end up in that position due to owning a flat and having to be a director of the management company.

Companies House recognise now that there is no conceivable public benefit in knowing the exact day a director was born, so they now just state the month, because it is a serious security risk. They are just too lazy to change older documents. Some such documents even have copies of directors' signatures. How can that conceivably be in the public interest?

Undervalued

Jeremy535897 said:

Undervalued said:

Surely the whole point of companies is that some information is in the public domain. Being a director of a limited company gives you certain protection that a sole trader doesn't have (limited liability). 

Because of that, those who choose to deal with limited companies are entitled to certain information too, such as who exactly are (or have been) directors and how they can be contacted.

It has been like that for as long as I can remember and if you are not happy to have that information in the public domain then you shouldn't have become a director of a limited company!

Some people have no desire to become company directors, but end up in that position due to owning a flat and having to be a director of the management company.

Companies House recognise now that there is no conceivable public benefit in knowing the exact day a director was born, so they now just state the month, because it is a serious security risk. They are just too lazy to change older documents. Some such documents even have copies of directors' signatures. How can that conceivably be in the public interest?

That is a choice they make if they decide to buy that type of property.

Some of the other points I agree with but it is still vital for anybody wanting to deal with a limited company to be able to find out exactly who the directors are (or were) and what other businesses they may be involved in.

That said, anybody you ever gave a cheque to (remember them!) would have had a copy of your signature (and bank account details too) plus it really isn't difficult to find out most people's date of birth if you have a mind to. Year and month is a reasonable compromise as they may well want to know if they are dealing with an 18 or 80 year old.

There are good reasons for wanting limited company status but there are dodgy ones too.

Jeremy535897

Personally I don't know why the public need to know a director's date of birth to the nearest month, but I don't worry about it. If I sign a cheque, I choose to let the recipient see my signature, but anyone can log on to Companies House.

The real criminals are not going to show their identities as directors of limited companies, and if your name is Smith, and you ask Companies House not to show your address, what use is the information?
https://www.gov.uk/stop-companies-house-from-publishing-your-address

Undervalued

Like most issues there are of course two sides. Sadly though it remains my opinion that for every person who has a genuine, no fault of their own, reason to want this information hidden there are many more who are trying to dodge business creditors etc.

Your "Smith" example, anybody searching can still see if he is or was a director of other companies. Plus the year / month of birth still helps quite a lot in narrowing it down.

Not directly related but quite a few years ago there was a long thread on here from an individual that was outraged that his employers insisted on telling customers his full name. The fact that is some professions at least it was a legal requirement (e.g doctors, dentists, solicitors etc) didn't sway him. A couple of people spent a few minutes looking at his past posts and did some elementary Googling of his user name. Virtually his whole life history was on social media for all to see! 

Jeremy535897

I don't have a problem with the month and year of birth being revealed, although I am sceptical as to how much use it is. I do have an objection to signatures and exact date of birth being revealed, because whatever public benefit there is, it is outweighed by the increased risk of identity theft.

Sadly, there are far too many fraudsters hiding behind company vehicles, and the disqualification of directors legislation is simply too weak to be able to put a stop to it. Nor are the police helpful, often insisting on categorising what is clearly fraud as a "civil matter," like rogue builders ripping off pensioners.

I find it staggering how many people reveal sensitive information on social media, where their addresses are easy to find and they post things like "looking forward to starting my 3 week holiday tomorrow", and take selfies with their debit cards in plain sight.

textbook

Jeremy535897 said:

For more recent entries, only your month of birth should be shown, not the day. Is that your situation? If it is, there is nothing you can do (even resigning), as the details seem to be on the system forever.

If there are filed documents (dated several years ago) that show details like your actual date of birth, or signature (it is unbelievable what Companies House let the public see), apparently you can pay £50 or so per item to have such details redacted.

You couldn't make it up...

Yes, only month is shown not specific day.  But I don't want even that public.   I have changed my name- shortened it and see what comes up on google searches in a couple of weeks after the altering it;  if this hides my real info  I might then even change my last name and use my middle name as last name.   I have the password to alter the info but frustratingly not able to alter date of birth but everything else.   Basically, I don't want to be found by anyone. 

  I'm just a director of a block of flats with a few others- making decisions like shall we paint that wall etc.  No serious responsibilities and no moral reason why my info should be up for the world to see.

  The guy that signed me up (an old bloke) told me that my info wouldn't go online.

Jeremy535897

That doesn't help:
https://www.ukdeedpolloffice.org/companies/

Slinky

Undervalued said:

Your "Smith" example, anybody searching can still see if he is or was a director of other companies. Plus the year / month of birth still helps quite a lot in narrowing it down.

That doesn't always work. Somebody I know of has been a director of several companies, mostly he liquidates them when he can't pay his VAT bill and starts up again with a new company with nothing showing linking him to the previous companies. He has quite an unusual name so can be found if you particularly want to find him, but at a cursory glance at the new company records where it says number of directorships is 1, if you don't know to go looking, you'd miss the trail of his previous spotty history.