Marsden2d ago

"Each institution had its own process,... forms,.. timelines, and often its own fee. IRD. Electoral roll. Car insurance. The GP. The dentist. The children’s school. ... There’s no central system that ripples outwards. No government portal, that I’m aware of, allows you to enter your new name and watch the bureaucracy update itself like a satisfying row of falling dominoes. Was it this hard when I got into the marriage? No way.."

#Aotearoa #bureaucracy #identity

https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/16-06-2026/the-cost-of-reclaiming-your-maiden-name

The cost of reclaiming your maiden name

After easily taking her ex-husband's last name, divorcee Kathy Young learned just how hard it is to get your own name back.

The Spinoff
Show threadIdiot/Savant2d ago

@marsden One of the reasons for this is the Privacy Act. Information Privacy Principle 13 bans different agencies from using the same unique IDs (so the govt can't issue everyone with a common number across everything). And the reason for this is that we don't want it to be easy to connect everything, because government is dangerous.

But it is also inconvenient. And the least they could do is make it free to change things.

Show threadIdiot/Savant
@marsden (And then of course the government created the IDI and links everything up anyway. But only for "research". But that can change with a simple law change)
Jun 16 at 6:10amWeb