Who doesn’t love birthdays? Of course, everyone does because these are times when people gather around you and give you special gifts. Honestly speaking! Mostly, teens, while dealing with studies or school stuff, may sometimes forget these days. This might put them in an awkward situation and make them wonder: how to find someone’s birthday.
This way, they may go to websites online to access such information, putting them at risk. Don’t take stress! Here, we’ll discuss in detail different methods to help you safely find the birthdays. We’ll also share with you tips to educate kids about digital privacy to keep them safe.
Why would you want to find someone’s birthday?
A birthday isn’t just a date; it’s a way to show appreciation for your relationships and add a joyful moment to life. Here are some common reasons that help explain why people mostly search for someone’s birthday.
For personal connections and celebrations: When you remember your friends, partner, or colleagues’ birthdays, it helps build positive relations in today’s self-centred or busy world. You can simply even wish them on time, plan surprises in advance, or choose gifts. Though these actions are small, they trust me, and they can leave a lasting impression. Because they show that you care about them, that’s why you value such special moments.
For practical and official purposes: If you know the birthdays of your relatives, you can fill out forms or even book travel on their behalf.
However, for official purposes, having the correct date of birth is crucial to avoid delays, errors, or rejected requests.
For safety and age verification online: In addition, it’s commonly found that people don’t share their correct date of birth on digital spaces. There may be multiple reasons behind this; some want to present themselves as young, while others have negative motives behind this.
That’s why verifying the real age is really crucial for parents or guardians to protect kids from interacting with online predators.
Is it legal and ethical to find someone’s birthday?
Now, you might be wondering whether finding anyone’s birthday is legal or ethical. Your concerns are valid; accessing or spying on others’ date of birth without their consent is unethical. This is because some people prefer to keep their birthdays private for many reasons. What truly matters is how you obtain the information.
Public vs. private information
| Public Information | Private Information | |
| Accessibility | Freely accessible to anyone | Restricted; only accessible with permission |
| Sharing Intent | Shared willingly by the person | Kept confidential by the person |
| Examples | Birthday on a public social media profile/professional bio | Full date of birth, home address, personal contact info |
| Ethical Consideration | Generally ethical to view or use | Unethical & may be illegal |
| Visibility Control | No restrictions; visible to all | Controlled by privacy settings or personal discretion |
According to Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, accessing others’ personal information without their consent for harmful intent is considered doxing. It’s important to note that recently, SafeHome conducted a survey and found that about 11.7 million U.S. adults (4%) reported being doxxed. It means that someone maliciously exposes their personal information online.
With FlashGet Kids, you can ensure your child’s online safety while they explore social connections.
How to find someone’s birthday (Legitimate methods)
If you have forgotten your loved one’s birthday or even want to surprise your new friend on their special day. Stay calm! There are many legitimate ways to find birthdays without directly asking them.
For instance, you can look up their social media accounts to see if their birthday is listed. In addition, you can also ask their friends, relatives, or coworkers if they know when their birthday is. Otherwise, you can take a chance to subtly bring up birthdays in conversation with the person and see if they mention theirs.
How to find someone’s birthday on Facebook?
If you have a Facebook account of your own, this might prove beneficial in knowing your friend’s birthday. Open the Fb app, type the name of the person into the search bar (usually at the top of the screen). Once you find the profile, do the following;
- Step 1. Check the “About” section of their profile:
- Step 2. Scan their timeline:
- Step 3. Look at mutual friends’ posts:
You can see their date of birth displayed in the info box below their profile picture. That’s only possible if the user’s privacy settings permit it.
However, if their date of birth isn’t listed in their infobox, try scanning their timeline. It’s actually a digital record of everything the user has shared or been tagged in.
Here, check if their other friends wished them a happy birthday the previous year. Just scroll down the page until you come to a group of birthday posts made on the same day.
Sometimes, your mutual friends might have shared a post wishing a birthday to that specific person. Try scrolling through the posts; there, you might get a clue.
Search their public online information
Sometimes people share their birthdays publicly, allowing you to use these resources to get information. For instance;
i) Google search: In search engines, you can type Name + birthday. If a person’s birthday appears in any news article, blogs, interviews, etc, it will instantly show up in results.
ii) Old posts, articles, or bios: Similarly, some might publish them in their biographies or social media posts. For instance, in their LinkedIn profile, they may sometimes mention “celebrating my 30th birthday this year.” It gives clues about the date.
iii) School or club announcements: Keep in mind that schools, clubs, or even organizations publish newsletters or yearbooks listing birthdays of members or students.
How to find someone’s birthday on Snapchat?
Similarly, another legitimate way to find someone’s birthday is accessing Snapchat. However, keep in mind that it’s renowned for strong privacy protections, which means the information would only be visible if the person wishes to share. Here is how you can check!
i) Via Snapchat profile: To get a better idea of someone’s birthday access their Snapchat profile. Here check if they have their zodiac sign listed on their info panel. Their sign will appear as a small purple box emoji with 1 of 12 symbols inside.
ii) Via Birthday Mini Feature: It’s a fun or interactive way to let your friends know your birthday. However, it only works if that person has enabled this feature. Let’s see how you can use this:
- Step 1: First, open your Snapchat app and select Chat, usually at the bottom of the screen with a message icon.
- Step 2: Next, tap a friend from the history you want to know their birthday. Once the chat gets open, go for the rocket icon 🚀 placed at the bottom.
- Step 3: From there, select the Minis option at the bottom, and then birthdays.
Other social media platforms (Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter)
i) Instagram: It may also give you a hint about someone’s birthday, but chances are low because they mostly prefer to keep it private. However, you can visit their profile page, or that of one of their good friends, and review their posts or stories from the past year.
ii) LinkedIn: Most professionals choose to reveal their birthdays on their profiles for networking. Because there is a possibility that their coworkers may wish them to help build strong connections, which is the main requirement.
iii) Twitter: Like other social media platforms, Twitter also allows users to add their birthday to their info section. If the person has entered their birthday, it will appear in the upper left-hand side of their page. This way, when their actual birthday arrives, there will be a neon balloon overlay applied to any posts they make on that day.
What to avoid when searching for birthdays online?
Do remember! To make someone’s special day, never opt for illegal ways to know birthdays. It’s okay to forget dates sometimes. Here are safe, legitimate ways to discover birthdays mentioned above. This is because deceptive techniques not only spy on others’ privacy, but also threaten your device security.
People finder or background check sites (paid services)
Nowadays, there are many people finder or background check sites available claiming to provide personal information, including birthdays.
Although these are paid services, their reliability is questionable. You would get wrong information betraying you. In addition, accessing others’ personal information without consent is unethical and also illegal.
Phishing attempts and deceptive websites
Similarly, be aware of the sites that claim to offer free services or secret birthday lookups. This is because free sites are mostly stuffed with ads to earn revenue from there; however, these ads may be harmful or deceptive. Once you click, it may expose you to phishing links, malware, or even forms designed to steal personal information.
The Pew Research Center has recently conducted a survey revealing that 73% of U.S. adults have experienced online scams. This highlights how common and deceptive such websites can be.
Digital literacy and privacy for all ages
In today’s connected world, everyone, regardless of age, uses social media to share their moments or communicate with others. Besides anything else, digital literacy is as important as knowing how to use any app. For instance, you must be familiar with what to share, where to share it, and who can see it. All such things may seem small, but they play a crucial role in maintaining your privacy or keeping you safe online.
Understanding your own digital footprint
First of all, familiarize yourself with your own digital footprint, the things that you leave behind online. You might ignore small details like a selfie revealing your school or home address in the background. However, over time, these may add up and may reveal important information that you never want to disclose.
This can allow malicious individuals to misuse your data for fraud or targeted scams. To avoid this, follow the tips below!
- Regularly review your privacy settings on social media platforms & apps.
- Keep a check on who can see your profile, posts, birthday, etc.
- Audit your public profiles from time to time.
- Always double-check the profile and eliminate those revealing any sensitive information.
Teaching children and teens about online privacy
In addition, teens and kids mostly make mistakes of unknowingly revealing their personal information. Make your kids understand that personal details like full name, address, and contact details, once shared publicly, can be misused. However, if you want your teens to follow your instructions, then instead of showing a parental strict attitude, talk to them just like their friends.
Tell them the reasoning that sometimes the person they are thinking of as good may have bad intentions. So, they may misuse it, and it would later have bad consequences. Keep in mind that once you explain to them the reasons why online privacy matters, they will likely make responsible choices.
The role of parental guidance in online interactions
Being a parent, if you want to ensure your kids remain safe online, you should be proactive. Guide your kids on how to respond when someone online requests them to share personal details such as birthdays. Tell them that they have to think a while and ask some questions to yourself like who is asking, why they need the information and many more.
Bonus Tip: Leveraging parental control tools
You can also make use of technology to keep track of your kids’ activities. For instance, FlashGet Kids is highly advanced and reliable parental software acting as a virtual assistant for parents. It was specially designed to keep parents 24/7 updated about kids’ whereabouts in real-time. Let’s explore its features for better understanding!
- Screen mirroring: See live which kind of apps kids are using and to whom they are interacting online.
- Keyword detection and alerts: Let you set keywords related to age-inappropriate content on social media apps. This way if kids try to use such words you will get an instant alert.
- App blocker: Allows you to block inappropriate apps or websites. Thereby ensuring your kids safely explore the Internet.
Conclusion
In summary, there are many legitimate or ethical ways allowing you to know someone’s birthday. That’s why you shouldn’t go online or trust apps or websites claiming to access anyone’s personal information. You should be wise enough to know that everyone has the right to privacy, and accessing without consent is unethical.
For teens or kids, it’s best to actively monitor their digital whereabouts; otherwise, because of immaturity, they may become prey online. Utilizing FlashGet Kids would help you see live who your kids are interacting with. Give it a try now!
