My wife and I just started watching the show “Younger”. If you don’t know, it’s about a 40-year-old woman, recently divorced, who is mistaken for being in her 20s. She decides to play on that and restart her life and career by claiming to be 26 years old. She hires a computer expert who somehow manages to erase her online presence. She then gets a job at a publisher.
So, two things that make me go “hmmm…”:
Wouldn’t an employer need to know her birthdate, for SSA tax purposes? That is, isn’t there a data check to make sure the SSN you’re withholding taxes for is the correct person, by double-checking the birthdate associated with that number?
Can one get oneself “erased” from the worldwide electronic profile?
The classic trope is that someone gets the birth certificate of a dead person (or someone that there will presumably be records of, but is not around to complain of identity theft) and builds up an alternate identity. Wikipedia calls this “ghosting” and mentions it is increasingly difficult in the 21st century, when bureaucrats can more easily detect that the person is actually dead (or nonexistent, though that is technically not “ghosting”).
If you have photos of your face all over the internet that can be trivially found by anyone, then naturally you will want to get them taken down first…
Someone in HR will know her birthdate, but if it’s a big enough company that person won’t necessarily be anyone she works with directly. Like, I’m sure that my boss knows about how old I am but I’m not sure he has access to my SSN or birthdate on any official documentation.
Depends greatly on how much stuff there is on the internet in the first place, and how generic your name is. If you have a name that’s common (or even an uncommon one that someone more famous than you shares) and you take down the obvious stuff (and put up new social media stuff), there’s not a lot that’s easily found to pin you to an old identity.
I presume the pupose of this charade is to avoid ageism in her target industry?
I suppose the premise is possible in that she can update her LinkedIn profile and resume to only show 5 or so years of work history. Assuming she looks the part, anyone interviewing her wouldn’t ask her age and just assume she is in her mid 20s. If she gets the job, she would need to fill out the background check information accurately, otherwise it would get flagged. Although in my experience, not every company is dilligent about that. But HR isn’t going to care what age she is. They are just there to process the paperwork.
What “online presence” would you need a “computer expert” to erase? Just update your Facebook page to look like someone in their 20s. Or don’t make it public.
I have to say, I don’t know anything about the publishing business, but it sounds like a silly premise. I assume the character is aready experienced in the industry? So why is she looking at what must amount to entry level or “job after entry level” jobs?