“I licked Aristotle because the voices inside my head told me to.” Yes, that seems about right.
Everything I’ve read says it is just one (non critical) data point and that as long as you don’t provide other info anywhere else you’ll be ok. I know zero about internet stuff, including security, but this makes sense to me.
I agree with you in general. However in this particular case, the only information that can be obtained from this is our birth month and day - data that is not at all hard to get hold of and is all over the Internet. There are, after all, only 365.25 possible combinations. If you've had someone wish you a happy birthday on Facebook, then this data is out there. But, yes, in general, we all need to be cautious about what data we put out there.
Well yeah BUT....this isn't the only data point you've got out there. Like, in this particular thread you may have only given your birth month and day; but in another thread you may have mentioned what city you live in; in a different thread you've brought up that you used to live somewhere else, and so on, and so on, and eventually a social engineer doesn't just have your DOB month and day to work with; they also know you're a female in round about your forties who moved from Seattle to Charlotte around 15 years ago and drives a white Mustang and likes to hit up the local farmer's market on Saturday mornings....
Maybe I am too literal, but how would that lead to identity theft? You can’t get a credit card or open a bank account based on general information such as being in your 40s v. your exact birthday and copy of your birth certificate or SS card, your moving history v. your specific address and proof of residency, your gender or shopping preferences v. your bank account information.
Because personal tidbits like the digits of one's birthday, the names of places where one has lived, etc, are very popularly used for account passwords and security questions, as they're things that people can count on "never forgetting".
I do agree that all of us should be more careful in what we say, no matter where it is. Identify traits can and have been used for nefarious means. I still do enjoy little things like the bday thing and am the last person to tell others they should be careful when I haven't practiced it nearly well enough myself.
Thanks. None of my accounts that have access to money or anything else significant could be taken over by info such as birth day and month or city that you last lived inbut, as I said, I know nothing about security. In terms of stalkers, I think there are easier avenues to find someone, but I’ll leave it at that. I guess I’d rather enjoy silly stuff like the birth day/month thing, keep other info private, and not worry about it.
I do agree with that. Different personal information can be puzzle pieces a potential identity thief can try to put together, so there's that. FWIW I use strong passwords and a good password manager to store and recall them, and whenever possible, I only choose security questions whose answers don't come up in normal conversation. And, yes, I'm usually very careful about what kind of information I divulge in these online quizzes. But as far as securing my birthdate is concerned, that ship left the harbor a long time ago.
Which is why you should never use those for passwords or security questions. Duh.
