Today, we’re going to talk about the need to hide birthday on LinkedIn and why you should do it to protect your security and privacy.
Many LinkedIn users have hundreds of connections. Others have thousands. If you have your birth date in your profile, then it’s possible that your connections can see it. That increases your risk of identity theft and fraud. I’ll show you how to remove or hide birthday on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn Security And Privacy: The Threats
As I explained in my post Don’t Share Your Birth Date Online,
Scammers, fraudsters, and identity thieves can wreak havoc with just your name, date of birth (DOB), and address.
LinkedIn lets you add your birthdate to your profile, and make it visible to all LinkedIn users, your network, or your connections.
Maybe you put your birthday into your profile when you first created your LinkedIn account, and you haven’t thought about it since. I encourage you to think about it now!
How to Increase Your Security & Privacy
Hide Birthday on LinkedIn
LinkedIn lets you completely remove your birthday, or control who sees your birthday. I highly recommend that you completely remove your birthday from your LinkedIn profile. Here’s how:
- Sign in to your LinkedIn account.
- Click the Me icon at top of your LinkedIn homepage.
- Click View profile.
- Click Contact info in your introduction card.
- In the pop-up window that appears, click the Edit icon.
- In the pop-up window that appears, set the Month field to Month and the Day field to Day.
- Click Save.
Below the Birthday fields, you’ll see that LinkedIn lets you choose who your birthday is visible to. But, if you don’t put your birthday into your profile, it doesn’t matter what visibility settings you choose. I’d rather not show my birthday to anyone, including LinkedIn (they can see what you enter here, even if you have it set Birthday visible to Only you).
Keep Your Birth Date Off LinkedIn
Don’t post your age on or around your birthday (“Well, I’m now over the hill, but I don’t feel any different!” or “Last day in my 20s!”). It doesn’t take much brainpower for someone to figure out your birth year from that, even if you haven’t entered it explicitly.
Don’t reveal your birth date in photos or videos. Imagine that you post photos or videos of your birthday party, and in the photos or videos are cards, or balloons, or a cake that says “30,” “40,” “50,” or whatever your age is. If you post these on your birthday, someone can easily figure out your birth date.
If other people reveal your age in their posts or comments, ask the person to delete them because you’re concerned about identity theft. You can send them this post to explain your reasoning.
How to Hide Birthday on LinkedIn – Final Thoughts
When you hide birthday on LinkedIn, you are safeguarding your account information from individuals and companies who may want to attempt taking over your LinkedIn account. You’re also minimizing the chances of them accessing your other social media account or even your bank accounts.
Additional Resources
What You Should Do
- Hide birthday on your LinkedIn profile, make your birthday visible to only you.
- Don’t post anything that would allow someone to figure out your age or birth year, in text, photos, or videos.
- If other people reveal your age in their posts or comments, ask the person to delete them.
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Very nice information & thanks for share it
You’re welcome, Khadim! Thanks for commenting.