Want to Stay Safe Online? Lie About Your Birthday.

Want to Stay Safe Online? Lie About Your Birthday.

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

• Strategically alter your birth date on non-essential online accounts to protect yourself from identity theft and targeted fraud.
• Your birth date is a critical identifier; its exposure increases your risk of identity theft and convincing phishing attacks.
• Only provide false birth dates to retailers, loyalty programs, and social media where it’s not tied to legal verification. Never lie to essential services like banks, healthcare providers, or government agencies.
• Adopt a consistent “fake” birthday for non-essential accounts and audit your existing profiles to update inaccurate data.
• Cultivate a general skepticism towards requests for personal information, always questioning why data is needed before providing it.

• The Hidden Risks of Your Birth Date
• The Art of the Fake Birthday: When and How to Lie
• Actionable Steps to Protect Your Data Today
  • 1. Audit Your Existing Retail Accounts
  • 2. Adopt a Fake Birthday for All New Sign-ups
  • 3. Question Every Data Request
• Conclusion
• Frequently Asked Questions

Who doesn’t love a good birthday treat? From a free coffee to a special discount code, the allure of celebrating your special day with complimentary goodies is undeniable. Many companies leverage this desire, asking for your date of birth during sign-ups or profile creations, promising exclusive perks as a reward.

It’s easy to shrug and hand over that data, thinking, “What’s the harm?” But in our increasingly digital world, every piece of personal information you share contributes to your online footprint, a footprint that can be exploited by malicious actors. Your birth date, seemingly innocuous, is a critical component of your identity, and its exposure carries significant risks.

This isn’t about forsaking all joy or missing out on those delightful birthday offers. It’s about being strategic with your personal data. Sometimes, the best defense is a little creative misdirection. For non-essential services, the surprising, yet effective, privacy tip is to lie about your birthday.

The Hidden Risks of Your Birth Date

We routinely use our birth date to verify our identity in crucial situations: confirming your login with the bank, accessing medical records, or even recovering a forgotten password. This ubiquity highlights its power as an identifier. Unfortunately, this also makes it a prime target for identity thieves and fraudsters.

Consider the cumulative effect. If your birth date, name, and address are exposed in one data breach, and then your email and phone number appear in another, a comprehensive profile for identity theft quickly forms. Scammers can use this information to open fraudulent accounts, access your existing ones, or target you with highly convincing phishing attacks.

The Gentle January series shares one practical privacy tip a day from a Markup staffer who actually uses the advice in their own life. Getting presents on your birthday can be really fun. So I can understand if, when companies have asked you for your date of birth (so they can send you something special on your special day!), you shrugged and thought, “eh, what’s the harm,” and handed your data over. But your birth date, like your phone number (get a burner number), is personal information that scammers can use to steal your identity or target you for fraud. Think back: How many times have you been asked to verify your date of birth in serious situations, like when recovering your login from your bank, or getting your medical information from your doctor office? Is getting free stuff on your birthday worth taking that risk? For me, the answer is no. That’s why I lie about my birthday on the Internet.

This stark reality underscores the importance of treating your birth date not as a trivial detail, but as a sensitive piece of information. Its value to you is low for most retail interactions, but its value to a criminal can be immense.

The Art of the Fake Birthday: When and How to Lie

Lying about your birthday online isn’t about deception for its own sake; it’s a calculated move to reduce your digital footprint and mitigate risk. However, this strategy requires discretion. There are clear lines you should never cross.

Now, there’s an art to this, so here are some general rules and tips. I only lie about my birthday when it’s a company trying to use that data to get me to buy more stuff from them. Do not lie about your birthday to your doctor. Or your bank. Or when you’re trying to get your driver’s license. You get my point.

This rule is paramount. Critical institutions like your healthcare provider, financial institutions, or government agencies require accurate information for your safety, legal compliance, and the proper functioning of essential services. Providing false information in these contexts can have serious, negative consequences, from delays in medical treatment to legal issues.

For retailers, loyalty programs, social media profiles where a birthday isn’t tied to legal verification, or other non-essential services, a fake birthday is a protective measure. It allows you to still enjoy the perks without exposing a key piece of your identity.

When selecting your alternative birth date, strategic thinking pays off:

• Proximity for Perks: If you want to receive these promotions at the same time as your birthday, pick a fake birthday close to your real one. For example, if my birthday was December 13, 1989, like Taylor Swift, I could pick the first of the month, December 1, 1989, as my fake birthday. Or December 25, if I wanted everything to come around Christmas. Most companies run their birthday promotions for the entire birthday month, so you can still decide to use their promos on your actual birthday. This way, you still benefit from the discounts during your actual birth month, even if the system thinks your “official” birthday is a few days or weeks off.
• Consistency is Key: Once you pick a fake birthday for a specific account or type of account, stick with it. But don’t be a jerk about it. Companies are on the lookout for people who try to change their birthday multiple times per year and double or triple dip. Pick a fake birthday and don’t change it again. This isn’t just about avoiding corporate scrutiny; it’s also about your own memory. Using a consistent fake date (e.g., always the 1st of your birth month, or January 1st for all non-essential accounts) makes it easier to remember for future log-ins or verifications.
• Discreet In-Person: Finally, when I’m at a restaurant that gives birthday discounts and the only person who sees my birthday is the staff member glancing at my ID, I don’t worry about it. The risk here is minimal compared to storing your true birth date in a company’s potentially vulnerable database.

Actionable Steps to Protect Your Data Today

Empowering yourself with a fake birthday strategy is simpler than you might think. Here are three concrete steps you can take to implement this privacy-enhancing practice immediately:

1. Audit Your Existing Retail Accounts

Don’t just think about future sign-ups. Many of your current online shopping, social media, or forum accounts likely hold your real birth date. Take the time to review these profiles. Go back into your existing retail accounts, remove your real birthday and submit a fake one. Focus on platforms that offer birthday promotions or primarily exist for entertainment and commerce, rather than essential services. Log in, navigate to your profile settings, and locate the birth date field. Update it to your chosen fake date, making sure to save the changes.

2. Adopt a Fake Birthday for All New Sign-ups

Make this a default habit for any new non-essential online account you create. When you’re creating new retail accounts in the future, remember to use your fake birthday the first time around. Before hitting ‘submit’ on any registration form, pause and consider: “Does this company truly need my real birth date, or am I just signing up for promotions?” If it’s the latter, enter your chosen alternative date. If you use a password manager, consider storing your preferred fake birthday there for easy access and consistency.

3. Question Every Data Request

This strategy extends beyond just your birthday. Cultivate a general skepticism toward requests for personal information. On a more serious note, a tip for anyone looking to do more to protect their privacy is to be generally resistant toward giving out any personal information. For example, my dentist doesn’t need to know my social security number. Even if the front desk asks for it on the intake form, I don’t fill out information I don’t think they need. If you ever see something on a form that you feel hesitant to give out, don’t. Ask why the office or person or company needs that information from you. Or just ignore it until you’re asked for it directly, and then ask them why they need it.

Adopting this “privacy-first” mindset empowers you to control your data. Whether it’s a form asking for your mother’s maiden name, a phone number, or your social security number, always ask: “Why do you need this?” If the answer isn’t satisfactory or doesn’t seem relevant to the service, you have the right to decline or push back.

By implementing these steps, you’ll significantly reduce the amount of sensitive personal data floating around the internet, making it harder for scammers to piece together your identity. And the best part? You can still enjoy those coveted birthday perks.

Alright, now that I’ve turned you into a fake-birthday-creating, personal-information-protecting skeptic, go get that free birthday gift from Sephora, or the just-for-me birthday discount code at Midtown Comics, or some free birthday hot pot at 99 Favor Taste.

Conclusion

In an age where data is constantly collected, shared, and sometimes breached, taking proactive steps to protect your personal information is no longer optional—it’s essential. Strategically altering your birthday for non-critical online accounts is a simple yet powerful tactic to bolster your digital defenses without sacrificing the fun of birthday promotions.

Remember, the goal is not to deceive, but to protect. By discerning when and where to share your true birth date, and by adopting a general skepticism towards unsolicited data requests, you can enjoy the conveniences of the online world with greater peace of mind and significantly reduced risk.

Frequently Asked Questions