Editing your age in your profile

July 15th, 2009 at 11:09 am

Thanks for this new feature Melissa. It would be great if you can tell us when we can have backgrounds and a list of recent visitors as you currently have on this blog. Reading all of the comments of Profile members, I think these are among the most wanted features in the community.
In the “Manage My Updates” function, there are only “comments”, “profile” etc. updates, but not “blog” updates, can Yahoo add a seperate update botton for “blog” as well?
Thanks a bunch!

July 15th, 2009 at 1:03 pm

Debtor for the information! More I have one I doubt on the profile edition! when I created my profile to a time behind, and I obtained to edit it in the way that I wanted, also I I obtained to place characters special that I made with that mine id appeared different in yahoo to messenger, adored to amend mine id in the profile to appear pretty here in yahoo to messenger, and was very sad for not having obtained today, I will be that vocês they could help me?

July 15th, 2009 at 1:52 pm

thank you so much for this information…..

now my questions has been answered.

July 15th, 2009 at 2:35 pm

Please can you tell me when entering a birth date for viewers to see , is it illegal to lower the date as I find if I put my date down which is older , I am 74 , having said that it’s very hard to make friends for chat when it is entered , thank you , please let me know .

July 15th, 2009 at 3:45 pm

am I understanding you correctly? in 30 days we can totally remove how old we are from our account profile? it is against the law to ask someone’s age when applying for work – so yahoo is really making a huge mistake in my opinion by exposing everyone’s age – this should be private information – are you exposing yourselves to a lawsuit?

July 15th, 2009 at 5:26 pm

I am not clear on how this will affect password recovery. Will you maintain an original date of birth like you keep original zip code? If a hacker gets into the account and changes the date of birth what happens to password recovery?

July 16th, 2009 at 12:18 am

If you show the birth age and birth date you are making it easier for scammers and ID fraudsters the get more information, it is ok if you are going to show when it is someones birthday! that makes it 1 in a 100 chance of ID fraud, but if you show the age as well as date of birth you give them an open invitation, so please correct this problem as soon as possible please or I will have to close my account, so so unsafe now.

July 16th, 2009 at 12:20 am

All content within a Yahoo profile should be Private by default. Each individual should have total control over anything/everything in the profile, including whether or any info will be made public or kept private.

July 16th, 2009 at 12:51 am

you shouldn’t be showing the full name publicly (first name only is ok), the birthdate is a no no, that’s big mistake, that should be private and the age shouldn’t be anybodys business. Please keep profile private only. Thank you for your inderstanding.

July 16th, 2009 at 2:07 am

i can’t change my age, why??

July 16th, 2009 at 3:42 am

may they will put an option to the user if they are willing to put there b-date.

July 16th, 2009 at 4:53 am

i dont want ma age to be showed to people ok so get that out

July 16th, 2009 at 6:44 am

I have just been inundated with a spamload of suggested connections, including:
sysresponse-do-not-reply@eonenergy.com

July 16th, 2009 at 12:44 pm

i can`t change my age because the page of basic don`t have age . just have : full name , display name , location & gender

July 16th, 2009 at 1:25 pm

I do NOT WANT MY AGE PUBLIC on my profile. Please GET IT OFF NOW, not 30 days from now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am very upset that my connections now are seeing my age, and it is not my age anyway, it is my husbands who set up the account!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

July 16th, 2009 at 3:08 pm

This product should never have been released this soon. It was not ready for the public. It is still not ready for the public to use and enjoy. Shame Shame Shame.

July 16th, 2009 at 4:35 pm

This is a stupid idea. Especially for me who looks like in 40s but is really in 60s. I do not want clients or associates knowing my real age. This would jeopardize the way I am proceed at work and could open you to fostering age discrimination because I can be google to my profile. You really need to think of this. However you age young you discriminate anyway. Which makes you even more vulnerable.

July 16th, 2009 at 10:24 pm

No estoy de acuerdo con esta imposición de Yahoo Perfiles. Muchisimos usuarios han optado por ocultar o cancelar su perfil a raiz de esta disposición de hacer público un dato tan privado como lo es la edad. Yahoo está en un grave error, que pena.

July 16th, 2009 at 10:32 pm

I would also prefer not to have my age visible on my profile.

July 16th, 2009 at 11:19 pm

I don’t want my age shown on any website unless I myself give my permission to have it shown. Even though I am younger then what my profile say I am I still don’t want it to be shown.

July 17th, 2009 at 2:25 am

Due to UK law, you have to have prior permission to display information especially ages, something which you have not done.

What about all of your members who are under 18, are you currently showing their ages, I am quiet sure that due to all the worries about grooming of the young this will loose you a lot of mail accounts.

July 17th, 2009 at 5:17 am

why is it that every change to profiles seems to make it MORE difficult …and less intuitive and still misses basic features…. I still cannot show via my profile if I am online on YIM !!!

July 17th, 2009 at 7:36 am

This is obscene. I can’t change my age to what it REALLY is because of some ridiculous (and pointless) measure you guys invented? Well, I was never really interested in using this service, and thanks to this, I never will. Congratulations, morons. Way to piss off potential customers.

July 17th, 2009 at 9:15 am

it would have been lovely MELISSA if some of you had thought to tell everyone about this ahead of time like when you first decided to shutdown 360 or at least a few weeks ago.
it the change of my age had every appearance of a hacked system,thus I quickly ran out purchased a new harddrive,and have been up until now removing any and everything that remotely looked like yahoo,including all my friends.
This is something you have yet to do you say,yet my age has changed nearly 6 months before my next birthday can you explain this?
Melissa are you saying yahoo intends to put the full birthdate,and name?
If this is true anyone repeat anyone can take that info and steal a persons Id,ask any cop or the FTC.

July 17th, 2009 at 10:35 am

I have my yahoo 360 as a support for my URL.
Now is gone.
I never edited my age in my blog.
This had been done from some one in Yahoo or entering in my files!!!!!!!
I don’t care, because if you want to communicate with people that did not seen you in a while or in my case people are trying to make me desappear .
My age goes with my diplomas etc etc.
Another thing as all my contacts had been erased from all my accounts including yahoo it was reassuring to see that my blog had been seen by almos 4.000 people.
I know it was many more because the same people ordering to hide my blog had been e-mailing it’s content to each other and passing in the cell phones to harass me in the street.
Yes I am talking about cyber terrorism
Thank you

July 17th, 2009 at 3:29 pm

My profile says I’m 4 years older than my actual age. I came across this page after realizing I can’t change my birthdate. I never put false information in the first place. This is absolutely ridiculous that yahoo isn’t allowing your freedom to change your age, especially after they screwed it up to begin with.

July 17th, 2009 at 9:01 pm

I never received any prior notification of any changes, neither did any of my contacts. We are all talking about what the heck is going on, and it must be another ‘yahoo glitch’ — the remarks have not be favourable to these changes as well. This whole age issue is a big mistake on your part, and no doubt you will lose far more subscribers than you will gain. I bet 9 out of 10 users probably feel the same way that I do!

July 17th, 2009 at 9:22 pm

I also think you should be able to keep personal details such as age private.

July 17th, 2009 at 9:42 pm

Once again unfortunately Yahoo has made a grave mistake. How dare you publish my birthdate when in fact I have specifically requested you not to ….. What else will you do with things I’ve entrusted you on? I am a stockholder of Yahoo … and I use the Yahoo stock message boards and have no interest in all the whackos out there in the world knowing my full name, street address, and birthdate.

So I have to wait 30 days to get my privacy back? I don’t get it.

July 17th, 2009 at 10:20 pm

yeah ….. to chat on line or on the street … who starts a conversation by saying how old are you ? i myself have been pleased to find out later that someone i’ve spoken to was much older or much younger than they came across .whenever it happened its given me a grin and reminded me just how sneeky age discrimination can be . why in the world would you think an unacceptable addition to an introduction in the world of flesh should be acceptable here ? vicki

July 17th, 2009 at 10:57 pm

I don’t think the explanation about changing birthday information is very clear. I’m confused and I’ve read it several times. What secret questions? I never got prompted with any when I tried to verify my password. I was still asked to enter my birthdate. Will the new secret questions be asked to verify my password 35 days from now?

I don’t want my birthday/age to appear on my profile. Will that be an optional or required field on the profile data card? I am not interested in sharing birthdays with people on the internet. Will that also be an option that I can disable??

Thanks for taking the time to answer.

Lacie~

July 18th, 2009 at 6:46 am

Really really unacceptable!!! Please let me take my age out of my profile right this minute. Either yahoo do it somehow or let me do it! Truly unacceptable!!!

July 18th, 2009 at 7:21 am

Melissa
I have noticed that with other queries to Yahoo questions, that you are always very quick to respond back. In this instance, to this very ‘hot button’ topic, you are conspicuously silent. Yahoo must surely have realized that the negative feedback would far out way the positive. What is going on? The silence is deafening! Hoping that Yahoo is working on a quick fix and correction immediately.

July 18th, 2009 at 7:42 am

the age issue is not a problem,wat you do wit it matters,may u shuld just d d normal thing it doesnt ve to b complusory ok,dat is wat i have to say

July 18th, 2009 at 7:49 am

I was wondering if we are going to get out profile views back? I had somewhere around 4,000 views. Are we starting over or transferring?? I have asked this question before (a few times)……..

July 18th, 2009 at 10:41 am

This is totally ridiculous having our private information displayed for not only our friends but for EVERYONE to see for 30 days. Somehow I expected more from a company like YAHOO! to keep our private information safe and to not have it displayed against our wishes.Very disappointed and wonder what else in the future should we decided to fill in other information at some point that would also be displayed at your discretion. I’ll probably think twice now before filling in any new information.

July 18th, 2009 at 4:01 pm

This is crazy. I never agreed to have my age displayed on my profile, and I’m pretty sure there’s a requirement of explicit consent under UK law before you can decide to share that info with the world. Furthermore, you don’t provide any option to turn it off or even to change it, since mine is currently wrong (sorry, but I don’t hand out my real DOB to every website I visit).

I don’t know what all this secret question business is about, as I’ve never forgotten my password or used reminders yet I’m still not allowed to change my age on my profile or turn it on/off!

Now when I apply for a job my potential employer can search the Web, see something odd in that my profile’s age doesn’t match my real age on the application form and think I’m up to something dodgy. So not only is Yahoo! breaking the law by displaying it without my consent with no means to turn it off, but they make me look untrustworthy as well.

These recent attempts to turn Yahoo! profiles into Facebook (which nobody wants because they already have Facebook) have been terrible, the chatrooms (the only real reason I joined Yahoo!) have gone to ruin and the Messenger client is getting buggier and more filled up with unwanted features with each release. As soon as I move my emails over to G-Mail I’m closing my account.

July 18th, 2009 at 4:27 pm

My age suddenly appeared on my Profiles page today. I DO NOT want it to show and I do not have a way to edit that.

Please advise….

July 18th, 2009 at 6:31 pm

I was not too happy when I discovered that my personal information, ie age, would be shown to my connections in profiles.

The only reason I opened the profiles was to try to stay connected to my friends from Yahoo 360. Now I am seriously considering hiding my profile.

When someone sends a request to connect there is no way to see who they are without accepting first. My privacy is very important to me. I have never authorized Yahoo to display my age, and I hope that I never see my address shown.

There are too many unethical people and scammers on the internet, and I am starting to feel like a victim with no control over what people can see. I like to blog, and my blogs have always been open to anyone, but my personal information is no one’s business. It should only be given out by myself and NOT arbitrarily by Yahoo!!

July 18th, 2009 at 7:17 pm

I do not understand why my age is being displayed. I thought that this was suppose to be something “private” and not displayed to the public. I did not authorize anyone to display my age. So why is Yahoo displaying my age? Can anything be done NOW before it is to late? Why was I not notified regarding this matter?

July 18th, 2009 at 7:30 pm

You had no right to violate anyone’s privacy to begin with. I was never asked if I wanted to display my age on the profile. It suddenly appeared with no way to remove it. That’s just wrong.

July 18th, 2009 at 7:31 pm

I will file charges against Yahoo.

July 18th, 2009 at 7:36 pm

I’m really not happy about the fact that my age (which is displayed wrong by the way) and gender are being displayed.

July 18th, 2009 at 8:01 pm

you have no right to change my privacy settings and make all my information public. I set it to private because I want it that way and you changed it with out my persmission.

July 18th, 2009 at 9:01 pm

Sorry Melissa, but the old profiles are better. So many things that could be made to make yahoo better, yet yahoo wasted resources of fixing something that wasnt broke. I DO under stand the ability to change the secret question, and the reason to back up the old data for 35 days, the point i’m making is the new profiles, just are not as good as the old.
I also do see why people just do not want there personal data posted. Pulling info from account or sign up information and making it available for others to see on the profile, or even on ones buudy list on messenger is just not a good idea. This is why people are hesitant to put real info anywhere on the internet when making accounts. We need to know that Yahoo will protect our privacy.

July 18th, 2009 at 9:40 pm

You say in the editing area that “my age will not be shown for security reasons”. Yet, when I view my profile, there it is for everyone to see!!!
Now you’re telling me it’ll be there for 30 more days!! Horrible!! Someone please suggest a site where we can all go to sign up for a class action suit against Yahoo. Yahoo has to be prosecuted for this unauthorized publicizing of this private information.

July 18th, 2009 at 10:18 pm

****** IMPORTANT *****

Melissa, please tell everyone how to hide their profiles if they choose, until they can edit their age in 30 days.
i.e. (my profile)–>(settings)–>(hide profile)

July 19th, 2009 at 2:15 am

I feel asking people to wait 30 days to remedy this problem means the damage will already be done. For those looking for employment in particular, their ages will be broadcast and be a hindrance for the next 30 days. It will be too late by the time it is fixed. I have already hidden my profile. The LEAST you can do is provide information as to how to delete the damn thing. I would delete my entire Yahoo e-mail account if it was not linked to many things. I am still considering it though.

July 19th, 2009 at 2:17 am

I also want to add, you don’t even have my age right, for God’s sake… I won’t be that age for many more months.

July 19th, 2009 at 2:37 am

i also want to tell you that my age in my profile that is being shown is not the correct one . i’m 36 years old not 46 for goodness sake

July 19th, 2009 at 4:06 am

i am 33 not 36!!!!!!!!! why???!!!!

July 20th, 2009 at 7:50 pm

I ABHOR THESE CHANGES AND WILL NOT CONTINUE TO USE YAHOO. MY FULL NAME AND AGE IS PERSONAL. I HATE EVERY CHANGE YOU HAVE IMPLEMENTED. MY FRIENDS AND RELATIVES HAVE THIS INFO. I AM AN OPEN PERSON BUT NOT TO STRANGERS. I THINK YOU HAVE GONE BEYOND BOUNDARIES…AND ANOTHER THING…WE DON’T NEED OUR PAYDAYS POSTED TO A CALENDAR. WE KNOW WHEN OUR PAYDAY IS AND I THINK YOU ALL ARE SNOOPING BEYOND WHAT IS LEGAL. SHAME ON YOU. I NO LONGER TRUST THIS SITE.

July 20th, 2009 at 10:26 pm

how can i change the rong age in my profile?

July 20th, 2009 at 11:12 pm

I would like you to delete my profile with immediate effect. Is this possible? Or if not, would you please show me how to do it?

July 20th, 2009 at 11:15 pm

The age and gender you are displaying is not correct. Rather than waiting for 35 days to change it would you be courteous enough to delete my profile immediately?

July 21st, 2009 at 12:50 am

I can`t change the age in my profile and it makes me simple angry. I don`t want to know explanations as long as it is info about me and it is not right. I am so sure i set it right when i registered.

July 21st, 2009 at 2:48 am

I believe that the age should not be displayed in the profile. Thanks

July 21st, 2009 at 6:16 am

Displaying age is unacceptable and an undue interferrence of one’s privacy. How can you yank mine off. It is frustrating that it can’t be yanked off but pls note that you will definitely lose your valued customers with this bearish action of yours.

July 21st, 2009 at 6:19 am

Melissa, did you see my message above. Please yank off the age thing and I want to use this opportunity to assure you of my unreserved annoyance with your program. I regret coming on board. What do you say?

July 21st, 2009 at 6:22 am

THIS IS SOOOOOOOOO WRONG..IF I WANTED CONTACTS TO KNOW MY AGE I WOULD OF POSTED IT !!!…MINE JUST APPEARED AFTER I DELETED MY STATUS MESSAGE….I DONT REMEMBER ANY SECRET QUESTIONS, NOR HAVE I EVER BEEN PROMPTED TO ENTER MY DOB….WHY DO I SEE CONTACTS WITH NO AGE??? CAN U EXPLAIN THAT??????.. THIS SUCKS, NOW I HAVE TO HIDE MY PAGE FOR 35 DAYS !!!!!! RIDICULOUS !!!!!! WHERE IS OUR PRIVACY ????

July 21st, 2009 at 7:01 am

Melissa, you state that the age is public information, but my age is not showing on my profile when other people attempt to view it. Is there an option somewhere to show it? All of the help information is now woefully out of date, it seems.

July 21st, 2009 at 9:18 am

Melissa, I am confused. Can you please clarify…
First there is the 30 days that Yahoo is working on the birthdate information and we cannot access this information. Correct?

So my question is..After that 30 days can we access our birthdate information by signing into our account using our password?

OR after that 30 days do we have to use our secret question answer and THEN wait an additional 35 days AFTER changing our information?

You also commented that
‘Any age information entered in your profile was at one point in time, entered/provided by you.’

That is true, but we have always had the ability to make it public or private before this New Profiles. Even then some people who were thinking ahead actually used wrong information so that their true private and personal information would not be shown.

Enough said….
Please clarify the timeline. Is it 30 days, ie after August 15th that we can access our birthdate information?
OR
Is it an additional 35 days after this time and after we try to access our birthdate information?

I certainly hope that in the future Yahoo will have the courtesy to notify users before making their personal information unaccessible and making it public information.

July 21st, 2009 at 11:11 am

Just hide your profile for now. Open your profile go to Settings then Permissions and uncheck the box by “Allow people to find me by searching for my first name, last name, or display name.”

July 21st, 2009 at 11:22 am

i don’t dink dat da age should be on da profile only 2 show 2 ur connetions and friends and definately parents so i agree and u knoe wat ima do dat rite now since i luv da idea.
-peace
-luv tamia

July 21st, 2009 at 12:47 pm

ridam be in 360 ke enghad mozakhrafe

July 21st, 2009 at 3:30 pm

I have long thought that Yahoo has lost control of its users’ data. I’ve been looking for a place to edit the age information for years. This just confirms my suspicions. Yahoo just doesn’t know what it has or why, and fairly arbitrarily exhibits whatever information it pleases.

I don’t recall ever giving Yahoo any permission to reveal anything about me, including this default “basic” profile.

Also, this apparent urge to mimic Facebook makes me very uneasy.

Agree that Yahoo is a complete train wreck. I’d be relieved if it were bought by Microsoft (fat chance now). I may very well transfer my mail to Google.

July 21st, 2009 at 3:58 pm

“We use your birth date as a security measure in case you forget your password. We would not be able to do so if you were able to change it.

“On file” indicates that we have your birth date information in our system, but we are not displaying it for privacy reasons”

July 21st, 2009 at 3:59 pm

We use your birth date as a security measure in case you forget your password. We would not be able to do so if you were able to change it.

“On file” indicates that we have your birth date information in our system, but we are not displaying it for privacy reasons

July 21st, 2009 at 8:11 pm

Please remove the age from my profile. I don’t recall even given a DOB. so how you came up with that year is beyoned me.

July 21st, 2009 at 8:52 pm

WHEN DO WE KNOW WHEN OUR 30-35 DAYS ARE UP SO I CAN REMOVE MY AGE????? ..AND WHAT DO YOU MEAN ABOUT alter your permissions/account settings ????? THIS STARTED IN APRIL ??? HUH ????????????

July 21st, 2009 at 10:50 pm

That’d probably mean it’s time to close yahoo accounts and start fresh huh?
Can’t you request to remove all info from a profile? I know it’s part of Canadian law when requested.

July 22nd, 2009 at 4:38 am

Age and Birthdate are very PERSONAL data that should never be shown due to credit card fraud, etc.

You say you have always done it. NO, my age and birthday reminders have NEVER BEEN SHOWN before and I find this indiscretion invasive and insulting.

July 22nd, 2009 at 5:24 am

Melissa, you said “Unfortunately, there’s not a ticker in your profile stating what date you triggered this notification”…..SO AGAIN HOW DO I KNOW WHEN I CAN REMOVE AGE???..DO I KEEP GOING INTO EDIT TO SEE IF AGE IS THERE??….ALSO IT SAYS: To protect your data during this time,we’ve omitted the ability to change your birthday for 35 days after you change you answered the secret questions….WHAT SECRET QUESTIONS ???…I HAVEN BEEN ASKED THIS??? IF I HAVENT BEEN ASKED “SECRET QUESTION” I COULD BE WAITING FOREVER TO EDIT MY PROFILE

July 22nd, 2009 at 10:47 am

I have no idea how you don’t think this is a big deal to anyone and are acting like nothing is wrong with it. In the rule of customer service the customer usually comes first, but it seems in the case of all changes Yahoo! rolls out lately we are the last on your list.

July 22nd, 2009 at 4:13 pm

With all due respect Melissa, I have to agree with many of the other users here in saying that this is a bad idea, if not an extremely bad one. If there’s one thing I know about the reasoning behind people using profiles in the first place is that they can control how much of their information is disclosed to the public. But now you’re telling people that your company intends on disclosing information as personal as birth-dates to the masses? This is truly a reckless move on Yahoo!’s part…

I also agree with Michelle’s comment: “Age and Birthdate are very PERSONAL data that should never be shown due to credit card fraud, etc. You say you have always done it. NO, my age and birthday reminders have NEVER BEEN SHOWN before and I find this indiscretion invasive and insulting.” For those of us who visit the chat rooms frequently, this information could be scooped up and used by hackers, BOTs, and other malicious users. And for those who use their profiles for recreational uses like role-playing(Which I’m surprised still happens after the inital pathetic attempt to “improve” Yahoo! profiles…), this forced change completely goes against their uses for the profile.

I can already tell that as a result of this, many users will mark their profiles as “hidden” until they are able to change the age and birthdates on their profiles. Melissa, pass this along to the team responsible for the profiles… If we wanted this information to be made public, WE WOULD HAVE PUT IT UP IN THE FIRST PLACE!

Answer me this Melissa… Is this change occuring because people have actually asked for it? Or is this all part of Yahoo!’s grand plan that, judging from the floods of angry comments that have followed nearly every change, has utterly failed thus far?

July 22nd, 2009 at 10:02 pm

Melissa, I don’t want to wait 35 days to have my age removed. I think this profile page is terrible. I have deleted my connections until this is corrected. You have no right to expose our private information. There is already to many problems with stolen identity’s. If I want people to know my age, my birthday, which sites I visit or who I talk to I will tell them, I don’t need big brother tracking my every move. I feel violated and aggravated by this new profile page.

July 22nd, 2009 at 11:12 pm

You keep saying it’s about protection, and yet your first post implies that it’s really about implementing this new “birthday reminder” service, which no one even wanted. From your original post: “We are also introducing a birthday reminders feature by Sept 1st that allows your friends to know when your birthday is coming up and vice versa, if you choose to share your birthday. In order to do this, we changed the way you access your Yahoo! account when you’ve forgotten your password.”

No one asked for birthday reminders, and no one wants this privacy invasion just so you can put in a superfical service like birthday reminders. What a bonehead idea this whole thing is. No one should have personal information revealed for something so trivial as birthday reminders, which you also say we can choose not to even use, yet it affects every member now. This was really worth all this hassle?

July 23rd, 2009 at 3:22 am

I just recently signed into my account and I’ve not used it in a while and went to change my birthday and discovered there’s no option to change it. Not only this, but when I sign out, its not displayed on my profile. Now, I realise most of the complaints have been that people don’t want their age displayed on their profiles but I DO.

I already had an alternate email listed in my account info, but it was old so I updated it. Now, if I’m understanding what it says on the help page, do I have to wait 30 days until I’m able to update my own age and show it on my profile or what? This is incredibly confusing and much more of a pain and bother than it should be worth. I hope all of this is sorted quickly and would really appreciate a reply. Thanks.

July 23rd, 2009 at 5:13 am

ROTF…I’m just glad I never had to give you my credit card information. god knows where that’d end up….

July 23rd, 2009 at 7:16 am

So im trying to change my birthday and age but it wont let me and everytime i try to change it it says its unable to save it!!! HELP ME! it says im like 2 years older then I am!

July 23rd, 2009 at 7:43 am

I see that not in all profiles the age appears. I would want that in my profile it didn’t appear. Is this possible? As? Thanks.
JSK

July 23rd, 2009 at 8:39 am

Oh Melissa Melissa, all you can say is it will change in 35 days but you forgot to tell us in what year..You know you people screwed up 360 and it looks like your screwing this profile thing that you threw at us. Can you tell by reading the post that there are a lot of unhappy people or do you even care. Let me ask you, what if everyone decided to drop this site, where would that leave you? Doing nothing I guess..Oh you aren’t doing anything now. My age just appeared on the profile thingy and it’s not even my correct age so who ever is pushing your buttons needs to know what they are doing. I have to agree with the person that said they were glad you didn’t have their credit card # ..laffin..someone would probably have a new wardrobe plus..Yahoo has turned into one big joke and we as users are paying for it. Is there anyone that works for yahoo that can answer questions without dancing around..I for one am tired of reading about the 35 day thing…It has gone way past that and still nothing…Why doesn’t someone from Yahoo talk instead of the ones that represent them..Put one of the big guns on. Not many here are very happy with this so called site it’s just turned into a big joke…Just hope you don’t mess up microsoft like you have here…

July 23rd, 2009 at 9:14 am

Hi Mellisa,

30 or 35 days, since when ??
I didn’t know when the time yahoo asked me for “secret question” and so on, if its already done let say since april , then i would passed my 35 days right … but i still can’t do nothing with my age in profile.
I understand you want to make Yahoo better in privacy protection, but this is weird things for improvement, yahoo team makes it hard to use.

Please mention a DATE, when I can manage to update my birthday or age on my profile?

I appreciate your reply.
Thanks.

July 23rd, 2009 at 10:11 am

I wrote this above, but didn’t get a reply… (even though posts below mine have been answered!) –

Melissa, you state that the age is public information, but my age is not showing on my profile when other people attempt to view it. Is there an option somewhere to show it? All of the help information is now woefully out of date, it seems. I have set permission for Basic info to Anyone, if that makes a difference.

There’s a group I want to join that insists on having the age visible in the profile.

I have to agree that despite you acting with the best intentions, this is *horribly* confusing – I’ve had a Yahoo account for 11 years now and never been this baffled!

July 23rd, 2009 at 10:50 am

I have tried to post a comment on here three times now and each one has not worked.

Total waste of time

July 23rd, 2009 at 11:45 am

You people have some nerve locking the Web site to show peoples’ ages. You make us all vulnerable to discrimination, identity theft, etc. I WANT MY AGE OFF NOW.

July 23rd, 2009 at 2:20 pm

Okay i dnt understand ! i dnt remeber recieving any Security questions?! and my age is visable! i dont want it to be visable! i dont care..i WILL wait 35 days…i just want to know WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO TO START THE 35 DAY COUNTDOWN….i dont remeber any security questions..only 1 when i made my yahoo account! and thats it..so if you reply that would help a lot!

July 23rd, 2009 at 2:35 pm

I DO NOT WANT MY AGE POSTED IN MY PROFILE PLEASE REMOVE AFTER 35 DAYS I DONT REMEMBER A SECURITY WORD.
PLEASE HELP!! PLEASE REPLY!!!

July 23rd, 2009 at 3:32 pm

Your answers, Melissa, are increasingly out of sync with the comments posted here. You say that customers themselves provided their ages but too many people are saying that their ages are wrong, despite the fact that they entered a correct date of birth, for that to be true. My date of birth is correct but Yahoo has entered an incorrect age in my profile.

You say that the age can be edited or removed 35 days after providing the answer to a new security question. I have not been asked for the answer to a new security question and I have made no changes to my account. It is clear that many other people are in the same position. So how long do we have to wait before we can remedy this appalling situation?

Why is the new security question relevant if the facility to remove private information from the public profile is to be restored to everyone in 30 days time? When did this countdown begin? On what date can I remove my personal, private details and unhide my profile?

Melissa, if you know the answers to these questions I would be so grateful to have simple, easy to understand, straightforward answers. If you are unable to provide these answers either you don’t know what’s going on yourself or you’re being asked to provide a cover up. Are you being stitched up by Yahoo just as we have been?

Jay

July 23rd, 2009 at 3:56 pm

My age is my business and it is private as is other information I had to list to get a Yahoo account. I demand that you remove it immediately not in your 35 day time frame or I will have no other alternative but to contact my attorney.

July 23rd, 2009 at 4:40 pm

Since Mellisa is not really assisting Yahoo’s customers, I think the logical thing to do is to delete your account and not use any of Yahoo’s services in the future. That’s the way you teach an arrogant corporation it’s lesson. Boycott their products and services. When they start realizing that revenues have dropped off because they were arrogant and not servicng their customer’s correctly they will get the message. For the people that have posted comments about their personal privacy being violated, cancel your accounts and use a competitor of Yahoo. It’s just that simple. Teach the bastards a lesson.

July 23rd, 2009 at 4:42 pm

I signed up on Yahoo years ago for this email account. I never asked to have a profile visible to anyone, nor did I choose to sign up for one. Having a profile should be an option, not a given, as with other social networking sites. I have hidden my profile; hopefully this will prevent my age and any other information from showing. I agree with the many comments saying Yahoo does not care about the privacy of its users.

July 23rd, 2009 at 8:46 pm

Please take my name and the two numbers that are by my name on the profile off….I never gave out this in correction information …please take it off

July 23rd, 2009 at 8:47 pm

that informaiton is incorrect

July 23rd, 2009 at 8:49 pm

you have no right to put information in a profile that a person has not
done so themselves personally

July 23rd, 2009 at 9:53 pm

okay, i didnt have time to read all messages, so i thought i would just start my own. My birthday is Dec. 8, 1986. For whatever reason it will not show me my bday, but says it is on file. I have not forgotten my password or had to answer any questions since i started my account up, about 3 years ago. It says i am 19, but I am 22. I would just like it to show how old i really am please…

July 23rd, 2009 at 11:32 pm

If you don’t remove my age, i will remove myself from yahoo. This is ridiculous.

July 24th, 2009 at 12:45 am

Does anybody has any idea how to expose this to the mass media? I think most of the customers know nothing about it. I just found out my profile shows my age two hours ago.

July 24th, 2009 at 3:10 am

I think it’s horrible. I am shocked. How and why did it happen to us?

July 24th, 2009 at 6:01 am

How can I delete my yahoo profile? I don’t want to lose my email but I don’t use the profile. I am in the UK and have it set to private. I can’t find any ‘delete’ links anywhere

July 24th, 2009 at 7:15 am

This is an egregious violation of my privacy. Nothing is more frustrating than when someone violates your privacy while at the same time preventing you from hiding your info.

Yahoo dropped the ball on this one.

Come on Yahoo! Please give us the option to hide the information which BELONGS TO US!

July 24th, 2009 at 10:42 am

I posted this comment under another category, but perhaps this seems to be the right place…

It’s annoying enough that Yahoo took the liberty of posting users’ age online without users’ consent, it sure made it a lot worst in my case when Yahoo decided to make up my age… what Yahoo posted on my profile is not my real age!!! while waiting for Yahoo to make the edit feature available, I followed your instructions to “hide my profile” for the moment, but it doesn’t work… my fake age is still currently posted on my profile… help!

July 24th, 2009 at 10:58 am

i hate this new profiles feature and feel that it’s a total invasion of my privacy! the fact that my age isn’t even accurate just adds insult to injury. at the very least everyone should be able to hide their ages. this 35 day waiting period is ridiculous.

why can’t email just be email? when i want to use social networking features, i log onto facebook – NOT YAHOO MAIL.

i really resent these changes being forced onto yahoo customers like this. i’m seriously considering changing to gmail now.

July 24th, 2009 at 2:27 pm

I did hide my profile but my age is STILL visible on the YahooMessages Boards. HOW DO I GET MY AGE REMOVED?

July 24th, 2009 at 4:10 pm

I consider my age to be private information. I don’t wish to share it with the world. How can Yahoo! take away my ability to control my own information and decide that sharing my personal information for 35 days is best for my security? Is there no legal issue with this? You really should restore our control over our profiles immediately. I was totally happy with Yahoo! email without any social networking component. But this is disappointing.

July 24th, 2009 at 4:34 pm

hi Melissa,

I am grateful that there is atleast a blog regarding the issues that obviously many of us have regarding the displaying of our age, etc.

I have a question regarding your earlier comment:

“you’ll see that even when you hide your profile, it will still show YOU your age– but this information won’t be visible to others.”

My profile is also supposted to be hidden and even when I am logged out, I can still see my age. You are saying it will still appear to us and not others, however, if one is not logged in, doesn’t that mean my age should not appear?

This is on the Yahoo Finance Boards, btw.

Let me know how I test this out. Thanks for the help in advance.

July 24th, 2009 at 9:13 pm

PLZ NOT SEE MY AGE IN MY PFOFILE,PLS MY AGE NOW ITS NOT HIDDEN,THIS IS MY PERSONAL INFORMATION.IM NOT ALLOW MY AGE SHOW OR DISPLAY TO ANY ONE ,PLZZZ,THANKS

July 24th, 2009 at 9:52 pm

I do not like the idea of my age being displayed for the world to see. That is my personal business, and something that I have not signed up for. It is for this reason that I have restricted my connections to only two persons.

I just wish to say that i am not at all happy with this situation no matter what the reasons are.

July 25th, 2009 at 12:04 am

I think it SUCKS big time!!!!

July 25th, 2009 at 7:06 am

I want my age to remove also

July 25th, 2009 at 1:46 pm

I am very shocked to know that my age has been public through Yahoo profile. Yahoo has no right to show my age to others and this is a betrayal of my honesty in providing my date of birth when I created my account.
I have decided to move to GMail.

July 25th, 2009 at 3:20 pm

i don’t see a big deal about one knowing your age.

July 25th, 2009 at 11:08 pm

Melissa if as you say age, location and name have always been public information on Yahoo, why on “profile update” is there a box you can check to keep your age secret?
Email addresses are often shown by Yahoo, when it says they will be kept secret.
You guys lie about everything, you should be sued for privacy violation.

July 26th, 2009 at 4:56 am

Disply age in profile?
Its not fair….

July 26th, 2009 at 10:05 am

Although Melissa is studiously avoiding our questions here, there are answers on: http://www.yprofileblog.com/

Melissa herself provides this helpful question and answer.

Q: Will everyone’s age be editable in 35 days from the time of this announcement, or does everyone’s day vary?

A: UPDATE: The 35-day period is variable-this means that this process begins whenever you change your security questions. To jump start this process, please go to the login screen for Yahoo! and click “I can’t access my account” — if you have not already selected a new security question, you will be prompted to do so when you log in. Otherwise, you’ll be randomly prompted to change your security questions when you log in.

It is clear from this that we have to trigger the process ourselves. I can’t understand why Yahoo is not announcing this to all users. And I can’t understand why Melissa is telling us we must have changed our security questions to make our ages visible.

You have to click ‘I can’t access my account’. You are not immediately offered the option of new security questions. It is necessary to check the box to say you have forgotten your password. You are then asked to provide an alternative email address – an address you have already provided on your Yahoo account details. (It is probably worth checking the alternative email addresses you provided before saying you’ve forgotten your password.) An email is then sent to this alternative email address which enables you to get back into your Yahoo account, reset your password AND SET UP TWO SECURITY QUESTIONS.

I’ve just done this and have, therefore, triggered the 35 days countdown. THIS IS WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO GET RID OF PERSONAL INFORMATION FROM YOUR PROFILE IN 35 DAYS TIME. In the meantime, hide your profile. I hope this is helpful to some of you.

I remain incensed that Yahoo has violated our privacy in this way, has failed to inform customers of the changes, and has failed to provide clear and helpful guidance on how to remedy the situation.

Jackie

July 26th, 2009 at 5:11 pm

I am a woman that’s mean i am a female. Why on my profile they wrote i am a male. I want you to do the correction for me please. Thanks.

July 27th, 2009 at 2:20 am

Hi Jackie,

Thanks, followed the procedure and all ok, however as you mention already yourself still 35 days to go!!
This is unheard of !!!
Yahoo this is absolutely disgracefull

July 27th, 2009 at 5:24 am

Silly me. Because the resulting outcry, I thought the demise of 360, which I didn’t care about, was Yahoo’s worst blunder in this new profile fiasco.

You all don’t get it. No matter how much we may rant and rave, what’s done is done, and WON’T be un-done. Yahoo will never reverse itself, nor admit it has made a mistake. Every change has always been a case of like it or lump it.

A truly arrogant corporation.

July 27th, 2009 at 4:58 pm

My age is wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

July 27th, 2009 at 6:17 pm

What possible reason could you have for publicly putting a person’s age on a fun website! I was shocked! How would you like to wear a sign 24/7 stating your age!

July 27th, 2009 at 11:01 pm

I also want privacy on my age. Thanks

July 28th, 2009 at 1:50 pm

Well, I do not know how it is in USA but in Europe is against law if corporation reveils user’s private data without their written permission. Yahoo never set in their TOS that any of user’s data submitted to yahoo could be shared, therefore, I never agreed to it. More, I am forbidding to use any data for which was not clearly said that it may get public at the time I submitted it.
You are publishing my age now. What will be next, my name and home address? My phone number maybe ?
I demand to keep private all my data I did not specifically agreed to be published.
I would appreciate if you would confirm that you are not violating law here ..as I believe you do.
Thank you very much, Tanja.

July 29th, 2009 at 11:22 am

Hi Melissa,

When did ‘transition’ become a verb?

July 30th, 2009 at 2:47 pm

it shows my age wrong, how can i change it ??!!!!!!

July 31st, 2009 at 5:49 am

HELLO, MY AGE IS STILL VISIBLE ON THE YAHOO MESSAGE BOARDS, MY PROFILE IS HIDDEN BUT IT STLL SHOWS THE AGE.
WHEN IS THIS ISSUE RESOLVED? OR DO I HAVE TO WAIT FOR 35 DAYS? THANK YOU FOR AN ANSWER.

August 2nd, 2009 at 1:55 pm

NO IT DOES NOT ADDRESS THE ISSUE. I HAVE MY PROFILE HIDDEN AND MY AGE IS STILL VISIBLE ON YAHOO MESSAGE BOARDS, OR ARE YOU TELLING ME THIS WILL BE THE CASE UNTIL AUG 18TH?

August 2nd, 2009 at 5:42 pm

I have no problem wit my age showing, however I do respect others who do not want theirs shown so theirs should not be theirs should be taking off

August 2nd, 2009 at 5:56 pm

I just noticed there are 2 sherry’s I will be sherry 2 for our views are different however i have a bigger concern than age will our e mail stay private i would be very upset if that would to be posted now that would be privacy invasion for sure to me

August 2nd, 2009 at 7:37 pm

I did not ask yahoo to publicize my name, age and where I live. I would prefer if my information is not posted for all the world to see. If this continues, I feel that I will cancel my yahoo email.

August 2nd, 2009 at 9:47 pm

Nothing you say makes sense. I want my age removed and your answers are very annoying. Everyone wants their age removed and there is nothing you can say to convince me that it cannot be corrected.

August 2nd, 2009 at 9:49 pm

I want to know when and what I have to do to remove my age.

August 4th, 2009 at 7:30 am

Remove my profile i can’t wait for 35 days ..remove it now …

August 4th, 2009 at 10:55 am

Melissa,

You claim that publishing users’ age together with their yahoo email address (of which countless users have been using their actual names) is for our own protection. I completely disagree. Whatever information we decide to put out there, must be our own choice, not something Yahoo does without asking or even warning us about. It’s irresponsible. Did you know that scientists can now guess 1 in 10 social security numbers using just a person’s name and birthday????????? If identity thieves out there with super fast computers wanted to hijack people’s information, you just made it one step easier for them. Thanks!

Check the link out:
http://buzz.yahoo.com/article/1:usatoday:7e46d70c654c00a537a41c8f9e1a3618/Scientists-guess-nearly-one-in-ten-Social-Security-numbers?ra=1

August 5th, 2009 at 3:29 am

MY AGE IS WROOOOONGGGGGGG….WHY I CANT CHANGE IT??!!

August 8th, 2009 at 11:24 am

Yahoo change my age to older than I am and I can’t correct it either – just like sepideh.

August 8th, 2009 at 12:21 pm

This is wrong……people should be able to choose themselves what they want to share with others…

August 10th, 2009 at 11:25 am

hello evarybody iam sunil from ksa

August 12th, 2009 at 6:59 pm

I got an email from a friend asking what was up with my profile !!!! I never made a profile and was shocked to see what was in it. My age wasn’t right either. I don’t know who did this and how they did it but it shouldn’t be allowed !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am outraged.

August 13th, 2009 at 7:50 am

Im dissapointed in Yahoo displaying my age, the public,This is a down right invasion of my privacy.change it please.

August 14th, 2009 at 6:16 pm

THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!! There is a level or privacy that I do wish to still carry. I just introduced my mom to chatting on Yahoo and she in mortified by this age thing. Take it off immediately. Please and thank you!!

August 14th, 2009 at 8:12 pm

Thanks very much! But how can i move data of my 360 blog to yahoo profile? thanks for helf

August 14th, 2009 at 10:57 pm

Yahoo you must have known that this would happen. You knew that this would anger people and you just did it anyway. There is no way, that you could imagine. that this would be ok with your customers. You just decided to force your power, since you are in control at the “switch” on us and do what you wanted to do. What eles do you have planned?

August 15th, 2009 at 7:46 pm

Thank you for making the change to allowing us to hide our ages in order to give us greater security and privacy.

However, I’m confused, because I answered my secret questions and updated my info MONTHS ago and yet I still can’t hide my age when editing my Basics. I thought it was only meant to take 35 days before the change was triggered?

Are you able to tell me when I can expect to do so?

Thanks for any information.

August 15th, 2009 at 9:41 pm

I can’t hide my age either and I’ve had an account for years! And my age is wrong!!! I’ll just have to hide my profile all together until Yahoo decides to actually keep their word and fix this.

August 17th, 2009 at 8:09 pm

“The profiles team and membership team are currently changing the way you enter your age on profiles so that your age is automatically calculated for you based on the birth date you enter.”

Thank you so much. I would never have been able to figure it out myself. It is so kind of you to protect me from spammers and phishers by displaying my age to the world.

Oh, but all I have to do is “opt out”? And people complain about Grouply!

August 17th, 2009 at 11:14 pm

When this “patch” is available where do we get it ? or will it some how work magically on the issue at hand in regards to editing the age on profile Please clarify how to get the “patch” I really feel uncomfortable my age is showing. TMI on my profile.

August 18th, 2009 at 9:40 am

I DO NOT WANT MY AGE SHOWN ON MY PROFILE OR ANY WHERE….PLEASE REMOVE NOW !!! I DID NOT ASK TO HAVE IT SHOWN, YOU HAD NO RIGHT TO SHOW IT…REMOVE NOW, NOW..

August 19th, 2009 at 12:36 pm

It was such a relief to go into my profile today and find that the age (which was calculated wrongly by Yahoo) had been removed. I have been able to unhide my Profile and I am very much hoping that Yahoo will never again disclose any of my personal details without my consent.

Whilst recognising that Yahoo has released a ‘patch’ to deal with the problem, I hope there is some recognition in the organisation that an appalling breach of confidentiality has been committed.

Congratulations to the many people who made their displeasure known so forcefully and were instrumental in making Yahoo rethink its policy.

Jackie

August 20th, 2009 at 1:26 am

OH suck it up people! Lawsuits? Good luck with that. Might as well try suing the doctor who presided over your birth .. sue him for documenting your birth day. AGE IS A MATTER OF PUBLIC RECORD when coupled with your name and location. What’s confidential about age? Unless you are lying about it, nothing is confidential. Showing your Birth DATE would be an issue, however. And Yahoo didn’t do that.

If you don’t like how Yahoo does things then remove your account. Real simple. Next time you sign up to a similar site, read the terms and conditions carefully. Don’t just check the box that says that you read and understand the terms.

August 20th, 2009 at 6:48 am

I never had a problem with my age showing!!! I dont see where the problem is just wait for the 35 days to it hide or to show it!!!

August 28th, 2009 at 2:04 pm

how are you

September 1st, 2009 at 2:13 pm

I would like to know when I can see my age and others can see my age in my profile, at first when the new profiles opened when 360 was closed down, my age was wrong but then disappeared yahoo groups are not happy ages are not shown in profiles as it was a condition of yahoo to show your age in profile, and certain groups are asking you put your age on your profile or you will be removed from the group, I can’t do that as there is no facility to edit or even put my age back in the new profile so how can I do it please or can you explain regarding the age in profile rule to all groups thanks

September 15th, 2009 at 8:36 pm

elow

September 26th, 2009 at 3:08 pm

how can i change my age so i can chat???????

September 30th, 2009 at 6:01 pm

hi!!! jheny…aquarian lady…

October 3rd, 2009 at 3:20 pm

Y los que no hablamos en ingles , que hacemos!!??me gustaria poder participar a esto y hacerme amigos:/as, pero no se como voy a hacer.
Ya sen soy una estraterreste, no hablar ingles en estos tiempos…peros es asi, bueno el frances pero lo escribo con faltas
Animaros y mandarme algo, acabo de instalarlo y me hace mucha ilusion descubrir nuevas cosas
Fab

October 20th, 2009 at 4:02 am

wehere are you ???

October 23rd, 2009 at 3:51 pm

i truly believe it really should be up to the person paying for online service to have the choice . seriously if no age NO AGE i dont ming but it is considerede very rude, especially for the women i love older women ALL WOMEN YOUR ALL GREAT.. but its even alittle embarrassing for some guys i know so lets take feelings into consideration please yahoo or whomever else yahoo i luv yourt work dont get my tangled 5 years and counting me yahoo 4 ever xxxoxxxoooo lol so im lonely i take what i get lol joke?

October 24th, 2009 at 5:16 am

I clicked the box to hide my age, hid my profile and WHAT?! There it is on my Yahoo Groups member listings.

October 25th, 2009 at 12:38 pm

Melissa I am a previous Ambassador and..Yes! I had over 45,000 views before the transition.. that ticker gone now, and where is the notification that someone commented on one of my blog entries..I cannot find it for the life of me

November 16th, 2009 at 9:45 am

Melissa
Why don’t i see my age in basics ?

November 18th, 2009 at 1:38 am

i like girles friend

November 18th, 2009 at 10:21 am

None of what is shown can be change in your profile, yahoo needs to fix all the problems so we can change our profile to what we want not what yahoo wants

November 19th, 2009 at 6:00 am

phanthihoangoanh – age : 23 – VN

November 19th, 2009 at 9:00 am

Ya Dokhtar Khob bari ezdaVj