Instagram Requires Users Birth Date and Warns it will Catch Liars

Facebook-owned social media platform, Instagram has been demanding users’ birthdays for some time now, but the company is taking it a step further by warning that it will catch liars. Instagram announced Monday night that, going forward, people will be required to submit their birthdays to use the service. If they don’t feel like complying with this new policy, then they won’t be able to access Instagram at all.

“We’ll show you a notification a handful of times and if you haven’t provided us with your birthday by a certain point, you’ll need to share it to continue using Instagram,“ reads the press release.

A new update from Instagram is going to be able to catch people who input fake birthdays into the app.

“We recognize some people may give us the wrong birthday, and we’re developing new systems to address this,” warns the company. “As we shared recently, we’re using artificial intelligence to estimate how old people are based on things like ‘Happy Birthday’ posts.“

image source – Google mashable.com

Instagram is making changes to its platform for the safety of its users. In March, they made it harder for adults and underage children from talking with each other on Instagram.

“This information allows us to create new safety features for young people, and helps ensure we provide the right experiences to the right age group,” explains the company. “For example, [with users’ birthdays] we can apply recent changes we made to restrict advertiser targeting options for audiences under the age of 18 to more people.“

Instagram has made it clear that they also benefit from these new policies.

“[Knowing users’ birthdays] also helps us show you more relevant ads.“

Instagram’s help center makes clear that once given, there is no way to claw your birthday back from the company.

“Note that once you add your birthday to your profile, it can’t be removed,” warns Instagram.” Note that once you add your birthday to your profile, it can’t be removed,“ warns Instagram.

yes, and in case anyone was inclined to find a silver lining in this news Instagram’s new birthday policy will make it easier to remember friends’ birthdays? – Instagram dashes that hope