SAG asks IMDb to stop posting ages

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- The Screen Actors Guild and the union that represents television and radio artists is asking Internet Movie Database to stop posting actors' birth dates.

A joint release from SAG and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists says posting the birth dates facilitates age discrimination.

"An actor's actual age is irrelevant to casting. What matters is the age range that an actor can portray. For the entire history of professional acting, this has been true but that reality has been upended by the development of IMDb as an industry standard used in casting offices across America," the release said.

SAG said IMDb publishes the actual dates of birth of thousands of actors without their consent, most of them rank-and-file actors whose names are unknown to the general public.

"When their actual ages then become known to casting personnel, the 10 plus year age range that many of them can portray suddenly shrinks, and so do their opportunities to work," SAG said.

"Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists strongly believe that businesses like IMDb have a moral and legal obligation not to facilitate age discrimination in employment," the release said.

A 40-year-old actress from Texas is suing the IMDb for revealing her age on the movie Web site.

The suit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Seattle, claims IMDb violated her privacy by cross-referencing public records against her credit card information to determine her age and breached the terms of the Subscriber Agreement and Privacy Policy by posting her age on her IMDbPro profile without her consent.