Many social media platforms require you to be a certain age when you sign up. They also ask for your name, email and your exact birthday. If you’ve asked yourself why they’re doing this, there are a few reasons to pay attention.
While it’s a pleasant surprise to wake up on your birthday and find tons of well wishes on your News Feed, sometimes sharing your personal information can expose you to dangers online. We’ll see what happens when you use your real birthday when signing up for a social media account.
Why do social media accounts ask for your birthday?
Social platforms like Instagram force you to add your birthday when you sign up. They claim that age verification has been put in place to protect teenagers from online imposters. While this is a viable reason, there are other reasons why social platforms may wish to have your birthday.
In many cases, social platforms use your birthday for various purposes. They show you personalized content, advertise and wish you a happy birthday. They may also censor content that may be upsetting or offensive to your age group.
In cases where a person is 14, there may be stricter restrictions on what advertisers can show them. Laws surrounding advertising to children include things like social media platforms not being allowed to show ads containing alcohol to underage users.
Why do people lie about their age when signing up for social media accounts?
Nowadays, many teenagers lie about their age in order to use social media platforms. For younger children, it is easier to reach a stage by adding a few more years on top of their birth age.
But this is not the only reason. For the security conscious, lying about your age is a strategic decision to protect yourself from online scams.
What can scammers do with your birthday?
Scammers have gotten more advanced over the years, and while providing your full birthday, month and year on a social media platform may seem like an innocent move, you could be opening yourself up to a variety of attacks.
If a scammer has your birthday as well as some other personal information, they can pretend to be you and try to defraud you, your friends and your family. They can also commit online fraud and gain access to financial accounts.
In some cases, they may use your personal information to open utility accounts, or gain access to other parts of your life. In severe cases they can use your information to open bank accounts and steal your credit information.
Depending on your country’s format for identification documents, your birthday may also be part of your ID number.
What Kind of Information Should You Provide When Signing Up for Social Media?
If a social media platform is asking you to enter your exact birthday, and you don’t mind doing so, be cautious. If you want to provide your birthday as the reason you want to receive birthday wishes, use the date, not the year. This will already put you in a safer place than providing your exact information.
However, we would not recommend lying about your age in order to get on a stage even though you are very young. or using a date of birth to confuse a social media platform about whether you are an adult or a minor.
Be aware on other platforms too
No matter who you’re signing, you should always ask yourself whether it’s absolutely necessary to provide accurate information such as your birthday. You may not have a choice for online banking and credit cards, but for membership and social media apps you should think twice.
Sometimes the less you reveal about yourself online, the better. Always make sure that the sites and services you are signing up for are as secure as possible.