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Facebook Timeline, announced this week at f8, Facebook’s Developer conference, revolutionizes the Facebook profile as we know it, unfortunately at the expense of some pre-existing privacy settings and expectations. Timeline is expected to replace all user profiles by September 30th (you can opt in early at the bottom of this page).
All users’ birth dates appear on a user’s Timeline regardless of settings. Even if you choose to disclose only the month and day of your birth (and not the year), your age can still be approximated as a result of its appearance in the context of the Timeline.
What used to be "Edit Profile" is not "Update Info" - Birthday settings are obscured inside "Basic Info" which seems a bit buried on the right column
I do not feel this is a betrayal of privacy but I am flagging it as it seems to be bug in the way Timeline works and that it may lead to the revelation of similar issues in the way we record our history and behavior on Facebook and across the social web. The fact that Timeline reveals your birth year should be among the least of your concerns [see my more in-depth post here]. (Another borderline-irrelevant privacy expectation that changes in Timeline is one’s ability to see which friends added in particular years are no longer friends.)
Facebook Timeline is an incredibly cool concept and a very sharp way to archive, scrapbook and view all the important events in one’s life. I’ve decided to go ahead and make public my year of birth, however, there does not seem to be a resolution for people concerned with age discrimination and those who wish to remain ageless.
My issue with the year is more of a concern with just giving away another small piece of my identity, and identity theft. But did I turn it on? Oh yes, I did.
Great point, Kami. it’s not a MAJOR issue but it may be fixable. Why did I just publish my birth year (1975)? Because my vertical timeline at the top right in one instance read 2000s, 1970s, Born. Which made me look even OLDER!
MY issue is that many places use the full birthday as one means of verifying your identity if you contact them. Especially medical-related places. It is also possible (some say “trivial”) to guess your SSN if your date and place of birth are known. Which makes this a highly desired piece of information for those wishing to commit ID theft (or mooch off your health insurance – which can have DISASTROUS consequences.)
Yeah, I’m pretty open about my age in general, but I don’t disclose my birth year in my “Basic Info” on FB b/c of concern with ID theft and just having that piece of info at the ready for some nefarious bot to mine.
How can you turn off the age part of the timeline? I don’t think it’s anyone’s business what year I was born in.
Kathy, I believe FB fixed it so that if you elect to not show the year you were born in your privacy settings, it will not be noted in the timeline.
Well, for me it’s still showing up. Joy.
My birthday, with year, is showing up in my sister’s timeline! I have not yet gone over to the timeline, but on my profile I have it set to just show month and day. How do I get it to stop showing my birth year in other people’s timelines?
My year of birth is turned off on my timeline, BUT, my age is displayed in the Birthday reminders under events. Most peoples ages are not displayed, but many are. I want to turn that off. Such information can cause a lot of age discrimination. Is there a way to turn off your age under the Birthday reminders?
Take age off birthday reminder
I want my year of birth taken off of the event list…people don’t need to see my age…not anyones business
face book doesn’t post date date & year of birth if you don’t want it so I assumed timeline wouldn’t either ???
It doesn’t matter what you don’t show on your timeline. When your birthday comes around, it will show in all your friends “Events” and it will show your age too.
How can I take off my age appearing on the calendar/event page…..
I did NOT put my year of birth when I joined FB and yet there it is for all to see on my timeline. I’ve done everything I can to remove it, but still it stays. I am getting very frustrated. Does anyone have the answer?
Go to your profile, at upper left click on “About.” then scroll down on the right column to “Basic Info,” click “Edit.” Under Birthday you can select how detailed you want the display to be.
Hope this helps!
I blocked the year of my birth for privacy reasons
but my full birthday with year is showing when I click on the About me box
at the top right in history
and in my birthday info…
Do not care to disclose this
and it could help facililtate ID theft etc…
have done edit &saved not to show bthdy on timeline – only have android phone – no pc – still shows – where’s data protection laws when u need them – sooo annoying – didn’t have this prob until fb update – help
Does anyone know how I can remove my year of birth completely from FB? My issue is that it syncs with Mac contacts including the year of birth even though I disable year in my timeline. Thanks !