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Ever wondered why Google has started asking for your Birthday? Is it safe? If you’re creating a new account, it is mandatory to add your birth date to proceed further.
And those having an account already for years are also being asked to add their birth date. But why? We have curated the information based on extensive research and user experience. Let us dig into it.
Why does Google need your Birthday?
Google needs your Birthday in order to protect a particular age group. By asking about your Birthday while you’re signing up, Google makes sure that they are offering you age-appropriate settings specifically for your account.
The main reason behind protecting the age group is the children’s online privacy protection act which Google broke and paid $170 million as a fine. The law is made to ensure that the search engine shows a warning to minors if they find them seeing something inappropriate for their age group.
How to remove your date of birth from your Google account?
Please know that once you have already added your date of birth to your Google account, it can not be removed, as it is a mandatory process taken by Google at the time of creating your account to ensure that the minimum age requirement( the minimum age criteria will depend upon your nation) is being fulfilled.
However, there is an option via which you can either hide or change your birth date on your Google account. Following are the steps to be followed to hide/change your Birthday on your Google account.
Note- We are sharing two methods below-
Method 1-
- First, open your Google account and go to your profile icon.
- Tap on the Manage your Google account option.
- Hover to Personal Info.
- Now go to the Basic info option and navigate to Birthday.
- Now you can see your birth date visible. Tap and select the “Only you” option when you visit the “Choose who can see your birthday” option.
- Tap on Save, and it’s done.
Method 2-
- First, open your Google account, go to your profile section and tap on Manage your Google Account option visible.
- Hit the Personal Info option.
- Scroll it down and go to about me section.
- Open Choose what others can see.
- You can see the Birthday option visible. Edit it as per your chosen date, or you can also edit it and change the settings to Only you.
- Tap Save.
How safe is it to provide your birth date to Google?
Talking about safety, you do not need to be concerned as long as your birth date is not visible publicly. Google and all other verified email providers are mandated to fulfil the rules and regulations concerning the age of the account holders as per their countries. Therefore, they will ask for your birth date at the time of creating an account (or later if your account was already made before this law).
Can I create an email account without providing the birth date?
No, as most email providers are required to adhere to the guidelines of the Children’s online privacy protection act, you must provide your birth date in order to create an account. However, you can check if there are any email provider who works without asking for the birth date.
Is it safe to keep my birthday public on my Google account?
If you’re keeping your birthday public on your Google account, then there are chances that your details may get stolen and misused. It can benefit anyone who wants to perform fraudulent activity or tries to impersonate you for any illegal activity. Thus, we recommend that our users not publicly keep their birth date and other sensitive information visible.
Can I add the wrong birth date/age on my Google account?
No, you can not lie about your age while creating a Google account, as it violates Google’s policy and can lead to the consequences such as the account being permanently suspended/deleted.
Does Google verify your age?
Yes, Google has started to verify the age of the user to ensure that they meet the minimum requirement of age. For this, one can verify it with a government-issued ID or with a credit card. If you use the credit card verification option, authorisation will be done, and the amount deducted from your account for verification purposes will get refunded instantly.
Can someone search for me by my birth date on my Google account?
Yes, if someone is searching for you online, they may take the help of information such as your Birthday to filter you out from dozen of results coming of the same name as yours.
Wrapping up,
That’s all you need to know about Google and why they suddenly want to know about your birth date. Although it is recommended and a mandatory step, we advise our readers not to keep such information public. If you’re looking for more such queries related to it, comment below and let us know.
