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jlcastro02
Community Member

Is it ok to share my Birthday with a contracted client?

Ok, so I am relatively new here. However, I'm excited to say I got my 1st contracted position. Seems legit.. I already reviewed their company websites, saw they have other paid experiences on UpWork, and it seems good. Before I get too comfortable though- They are asking for my email and birthday, so that they can create my work facebook account. Is this ok to share, or should I share a false birthday?

18 REPLIES 18
65dab6ce
Community Member

For me, I wouldn't feel comfortable sharing that kind of personal information with a client. But I guess you need to do your due diligence to be sure they are legit.

Is having a 'work' facebook account integral to the tasks you will be performing? If not, I don't see why they need to create a new account for you.

Yes, she is creating a work email account and work Facebook account for me
so that I may help manage social media posts Etc.

Well Facebook does ask for birth dates. And if you already have a personal FB account, they will have it anyway. So I can't see any harm in that. 

 

What is important is that your client gives you an official Upwork contract and that you are paid via Upwork. The client can't just pay you for one job on Upwork and then ask you to circumvent, which could cost you your account. 

prestonhunter
Community Member

That is a very interesting question.

 

Upwork always warns freelancers about sharing personal details that can be used for identity theft.

 

But there IS NO RULE against sharing your true birthday with a client.

 

If you really trusted a client and knew for sure this was all legitimate, you could probably share your birthday and it wouldn't be a big deal.

 

But in a situation like this... where they're simply trying to fill out some information so that you can work on their behalf... I don't see how it would make any difference to them if the birthday you gave them was real or not.

 

(Note that I say this as somebody who is not a Facebook user and does not know what Facebook's rules are. I don't even know if the client is asking for ONLY a birth year. Or ONLY a day and month. Or both. Not everybody would agree that it is even okay for a client to ask for a birth year...)

Very good points. If they are ONLY asking for Birthday, theres no identity
theft that can be had right? However there is potential for this to become
long-term, and I don't want it to come back later that I gave them
misleading information.

Jennifer:

Based on what you have said, this does NOT sound like an identity thief.

 

If it was me, I would probably just give them my real birthday so they can set me up using Facebook's legitimate protocols for establishing delegates.

 

If a person only has your birthday, then there is not much they can do with that alone.

 

Anyway, your birthday and all kinds of information is already out there. If somebody really wants to know your birthday, they can get that information.

Give the client your birthday.

 

Tell them you want an angelfood cake.

 

Invite me to the party.

abinadab-agbo
Community Member


Jennifer C wrote:

Ok, so I am relatively new here. However, I'm excited to say I got my 1st contracted position. Seems legit.. I already reviewed their company websites, saw they have other paid experiences on UpWork, and it seems good. Before I get too comfortable though- They are asking for my email and birthday, so that they can create my work facebook account. Is this ok to share, or should I share a false birthday?


I could give that info after they've sent me the contract. Not before.

 

lysis10
Community Member

No, give them a fake birthday. Don't give them a real one.

florydev
Community Member


Jennifer M wrote:

No, give them a fake birthday. Don't give them a real one.


I agree.  No reason to give them the real one.  

 

The other advice I would give is to always remain vigilant.  People are social engineered to give up information all the time and it starts with a simple piece of mostly innocuous info.  It is taking advantage of your natural thought process...

 

Should I trust someone with this?  Yeah, I guess what can they really do with it.  Ok...

I will trust them.

 

Then the next question comes and you roll with it.

 

 

abinadab-agbo
Community Member

I dunno, but they don't need that info.

They needn't have asked for it, either.

 

Usually when a client has too much info about you than they actually need for the purposes of that contract, the contract has a greater tendency to end south.

 

So, my final analysis is, nope.

 

Why can't you just open the Facebook account yourself? I don't see why they'd need to do it for you. What does the job involve?

Admin assisting. So helping manage posts, pages, etc.

Okay, so why can't you just open the account yourself?


Christine A wrote:
Okay, so why can't you just open the account yourself?

It's actually a good idea for them to do it because they can keep control of it if she leaves. If she owns it, they lose it when she leaves if she decides to keep it. 

 

But she should give them a fake birthday. This is one of those things where what they don't know won't hurt them. Not even worth arguing about it. Just give them a fake one and they'll never know.


Jennifer M wrote:

Christine A wrote:
Okay, so why can't you just open the account yourself?

But she should give them a fake birthday. This is one of those things where what they don't know won't hurt them. Not even worth arguing about it. Just give them a fake one and they'll never know.


It's not just about them. It's also about the person giving the info. She might not feel comfortable giving anybody fake info on anything.

If this is the case with the OP, what will she do?

 

ETA: Ans: She shouldn't do anything beyond what she has already done.

They should open it themselves anyhow they can, without Jennifer C. having to supply them a DOB. 


Abinadab A wrote:


It's not just about them. It's also about the person giving the info. She might not feel comfortable giving anybody fake info on anything.

If this is the case with the OP, what will she do?

 

ETA: Ans: She shouldn't do anything beyond what she has already done.

They should open it themselves anyhow they can, without Jennifer C. having to supply them a DOB. 


Nobody should feel bad about giving fake info in this case. It's not personal and it's not gonna make or break anyone. Arguing over it with the client might change the tone though, so I wouldn't say anything and just give them a fake one.

 

I do it every time in these cases. Give them a fake birthday and move on and take the money. This is not a battle worth fighting at all.

browersr
Community Member

I agree with Jennifer and moreover why not just to tell the person to pick a date as you don't really want to provide that info. If they protest one has to wonder why they would care....

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