Thursday, March 22, 2012
Should We Outlaw Employers From Asking For Social Networking Logins?
Techdirt: In 2009, we wrote about the city of Bozeman, Montana asking job applicants for all of their passwords to social networking sites, so that the city could look more closely to see if they had "high moral character." Public outrage over that plan resulted in the city dropping the requirement. Last year, we noted that some places in Maryland were doing the same, leading to a lawsuit. However, the Boston Globe is now reporting that more and more jobseekers are being asked for their social network logins, as a simplified "background check" by employers. It's a newspaper trend piece, so in typically maddening fashion it makes no effort to indicate how widespread this really is -- but the fact that it's not a big story any time an employer does this certainly suggests that it's becoming at least somewhat more standard.
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4 comments:
I know that companies and employers want to find out as much as possible about their job applicants, but I consider the demand to receive a persons social media login and password to be a complete violation of privacy. I understand the importance of an employer wanting to have a sort of "background check" as the article words it, but I would hate to work for someone who obviously does not trust my own word and personal integrity from an in-person interview
Absolutely not. Nope. Nuh-uh. This isn't even the least bit ok. At the least, this is an invasion of privacy. A prospective employer doesn't come to my house and check the status of my dishes, or what kind of underwear is in my drawer, because not only does that have NOTHING to do with my future job (unless I'm applying to be a housekeeper or a stripper), but it would be completely inappropriate to ask for that personal an insight into my private affairs. Facebook is no different. I expect that what I have put on the internet for all to see is going to be looked at by people, some of whom may hire me in the future. But I expect enough courtesy and common decency from prospective employers to respect the fact that I have chosen to keep certain things to myself, and that the fact that I can discern what should be public or private is an asset as an employee, NOT a license to dig deeper.
If employers asking for job applicant Facebook login information is seriously becoming a problem, though I am quite frankly shocked and appalled that it is, then in my mind there is no question that legislation should be created against it. Such a move by employers is such a spectacular invasion of privacy that it simply cannot be allowed to continue. Requesting an applicant to reveal their social networking login information is both inappropriate and illogical on several levels. It is illogical because employers are still able to look applicants up on Facebook and see limited information about them, depending on the applicant’s security settings. This information is all the applicant chooses to share with the outside world and thus is all the employer should care about. It is considered inappropriate for employers to pry into applicants personal lives during an interview, why should it be appropriate to pry into their digital lives? Secondly, it is poor practice to share your personal login information with anyone, let alone an employer that you barely know. An employer could potentially go beyond simply checking out your Facebook page and modify your personal information and settings. As much as I wouldn’t want to wish Computing at Carnegie Mellon on my worst enemy, it seems like these employers could use it.
Wow, this is incredible. It would be like, back in the 80’s, me giving a potential employer my rolodex, the previous month’s mail and a list of every one who paged me in the last 60 days. I agree with my colleges. This is a complete invasion of privacy. I am fine with an employer looking on line to find info about me, that is just good research. But to go through my “trash”, that is not even legal for a private investigator. Besides, Mark Zuckerberg has specifically told me, do not give my password to anyone, and to change it every 60 days.
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