Snapchat Only Knows Your Birth Time If You Tell It
The Claim
The app Snapchat knows your birth date, time, and place without you telling it.
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Emerging story
In early August, social media users began posting screenshots of their Snapchat settings, which included the time and place of people’s birthdays. They included comments such as, “Creepy” or, “Snapchat somehow knows what time you were born.” This has left users suspicious of how Snapchat received this information, and some even suggest some kind of government involvement.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s investigation found that these users, though they may not realize it, most likely provided Snapchat with the information about their birthdate, time, and place. Last November, Snapchat revealed a new feature called Snapchat Astrology. Users who signed up for the feature were asked to enter their birth time and place. This is known as a Natal Chart Reading in Astrology. As a Snapchat representative told The Verge, the users entered this data themselves. It is only used for this feature, and it is not shared in any way.
Databases of birth records are sparse and differ by location. In the United States, each state handles these records differently, and the information is not easy to find or access. While some users speculate that the government is in some way involved, it would require a massive undertaking of time and resources to input that data to Snapchat for each person’s birth date and place.
