Employers asking for Facebook account details.

[Halororor]

SEATTLE — When Justin Bassett interviewed for a new job, he expected the usual questions about experience and references. So he was astonished when the interviewer asked for something else: his Facebook username and password.

Bassett, a New York City statistician, had just finished answering a few character questions when the interviewer turned to her computer to search for his Facebook page. But she couldn't see his private profile. She turned back and asked him to hand over his login information.

Bassett refused and withdrew his application, saying he didn't want to work for a company that would seek such personal information. But as the job market steadily improves, other job candidates are confronting the same question from prospective employers, and some of them cannot afford to say no.

In their efforts to vet applicants, some companies and government agencies are going beyond merely glancing at a person's social networking profiles and instead asking to log in as the user to have a look around.

"It's akin to requiring someone's house keys," said Orin Kerr, a George Washington University law professor and former federal prosecutor who calls it "an egregious privacy violation."

Questions have been raised about the legality of the practice, which is also the focus of proposed legislation in Illinois and Maryland that would forbid public agencies from asking for access to social networks.

Since the rise of social networking, it has become common for managers to review publically available Facebook profiles, Twitter accounts and other sites to learn more about job candidates. But many users, especially on Facebook, have their profiles set to private, making them available only to selected people or certain networks.

Companies that don't ask for passwords have taken other steps — such as asking applicants to friend human resource managers or to log in to a company computer during an interview. Once employed, some workers have been required to sign non-disparagement agreements that ban them from talking negatively about an employer on social media.

Asking for a candidate's password is more prevalent among public agencies, especially those seeking to fill law enforcement positions such as police officers or 911 dispatchers.

Back in 2010, Robert Collins was returning to his job as a correctional officer at the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services after taking a leave following his mother's death. During a reinstatement interview, he was asked for his login and password, purportedly so the agency could check for any gang affiliations. He was stunned by the request but complied.

 

"I needed my job to feed my family. I had to," he recalled.

After the ACLU complained about the practice, the agency amended its policy, asking instead for job applicants to log in during interviews.

"To me, that's still invasive. I can appreciate the desire to learn more about the applicant, but it's still a violation of people's personal privacy," said Collins, whose case inspired Maryland's legislation.

Until last year, the city of Bozeman, Mont., had a long-standing policy of asking job applicants for passwords to their email addresses, social-networking websites and other online accounts.

And since 2006, the McLean County, Ill., sheriff's office has been one of several Illinois sheriff's departments that ask applicants to sign into social media sites to be screened.

Chief Deputy Rusty Thomas defended the practice, saying applicants have a right to refuse. But no one has ever done so. Thomas said that "speaks well of the people we have apply."

When asked what sort of material would jeopardize job prospects, Thomas said "it depends on the situation" but could include "inappropriate pictures or relationships with people who are underage, illegal behavior."

In Spotsylvania County, Va., the sheriff's department asks applicants to friend background investigators for jobs at the 911 dispatch center and for law enforcement positions.

"In the past, we've talked to friends and neighbors, but a lot of times we found that applicants interact more through social media sites than they do with real friends," said Capt. Mike Harvey. "Their virtual friends will know more about them than a person living 30 yards away from them."

Harvey said investigators look for any "derogatory" behavior that could damage the agency's reputation.

E. Chandlee Bryan, a career coach and co-author of the book "The Twitter Job Search Guide," said job seekers should always be aware of what's on their social media sites and assume someone is going to look at it.

 

Bryan said she is troubled by companies asking for logins, but she feels it's not a violation if an employer asks to see a Facebook profile through a friend request. And she's not troubled by non-disparagement agreements.

"I think that when you work for a company, they are essentially supporting you in exchange for your work. I think if you're dissatisfied, you should go to them and not on a social media site," she said.

More companies are also using third-party applications to scour Facebook profiles, Bryan said. One app called BeKnown can sometimes access personal profiles, short of wall messages, if a job seeker allows it.

Sears is one of the companies using apps. An applicant has the option of logging into the Sears job site through Facebook by allowing a third-party application to draw information from the profile, such as friend lists.

Sears Holdings Inc. spokeswoman Kim Freely said using a Facebook profile to apply allows Sears to be updated on the applicant's work history.

The company assumes "that people keep their social profiles updated to the minute, which allows us to consider them for other jobs in the future or for ones that they may not realize are available currently," she said.

Giving out Facebook login information violates the social network's terms of service. But those terms have questionable legal weight, and experts say the legality of asking for such information remains murky.

The Department of Justice regards it as a federal crime to enter a social networking site in violation of the terms of service, but during recent congressional testimony, the agency said such violations would not be prosecuted.

Lori Andrews, a law professor at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law specializing in Internet privacy, is concerned about the pressure placed on applicants, even if they voluntarily provide access to social sites.

 

"Volunteering is coercion if you need a job," Andrews said.

 

Neither Facebook nor Twitter responded to repeated requests for comment.

 

 

In New York, Bassett considered himself lucky that he was able to turn down the consulting gig at a lobbying firm.

"I think asking for account login credentials is regressive," he said. "If you need to put food on the table for your three kids, you can't afford to stand up for your belief."

 

Article

 

It's a bit late, but I think there's a valid discussion to be had here.

 

I'm of the opinion that even simply just asking to look at a person's profile is a major invasion of privacy. Employers are forgetting that people have private lives, and that nobody's private life is an accurate reflection of their ability to perform in a professional situation.

 

It's made even worse by the fact that it is nothing more than an elaborate bully tactic. In an interview situation the last thing anyone wants is to deny a request from the potential employer, and this is being exploited. That's called coercion.

 

There's a good argument to be had for not posting anything you don't want to be seen by certain people online, but that's a load of horse *censored*. You shouldn't have to have your freedom restricted due to a potential employer digging where he has no business. Your Facebook profile has absolutely nothing to do with your job.

 

I mean, what did they do before Facebook?

[bben46]

Just say no. If they insist, you really don't want to work for them anyway. And as a former employer, I wouldn't want anyone working for me that would willingly hand over personal information. If they do that, there is a good possibility they would hand over confidential work details to someone who demanded them with no legal documentation.

 

BTW, My business was a security company where per state law, every employee, including the receptionist and janitor, had to pass a background security screening before they could be employed.

[Omeletter]

"Sure boss, let me hand over the password to my personal, private profile right away!"

 

But really, if access to your FB profile is a requirement, then you should just walk away immediately.

[Yoshh]

Given that I don't have a Facebook account, how would they react to that?

[Fonger]

Given that I don't have a Facebook account, how would they react to that?

fired on the spot

[shotgun188]

Given that I don't have a Facebook account, how would they react to that?

They'd make you tell them all your usernames and passwords on every forums and social networks that you have an account on. Then they'd say, "We'll think about it," and they would also stalk you IRL too.

[Thor.]

Here in Canada i think its illegal for someone to ask for private info like that, i swear i once read a article about that not to long ago.:confused:

 

Also this, thank goodness i don't have one.

 

http://digitaljourna.../article/321698

Edited April 15, 2012 by Thor.

[Dazaster]

More Big Brother nonsense that needs to be nipped in the bud. When it starts happening here in the U.K. though, I forsee the perfect excuse for dole-wallahs(the permanently unemployed) - oh I couldn't take the job 'coz 'e wanted me Facebook account, innit, invasion of me privacy, innit. They'll never work again! Edited April 15, 2012 by Dazaster

[Deleted472477User]

From what I read elsewhere, these were uncommon, isolated incidents, but no less disturbing for that. A few years ago, I read something about employers not believing applicants if they said they didn't use social media, and so I got a Facebook. But, I almost never post in it, and what I do post is never anything I wouldn't want a boss or potential boss to see. Most of my personal stuff is on a friends-locked Livejournal.

[Thor.]

If they ask for more then just your facebook account, just lie about it.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 15, 2012 by Thor.