UPDATE: Facebook warns employers not to demand password from job applicants
8:27 pm - 03/23/2012NEW YORK, N.Y. - Facebook is warning employers not to demand the passwords of job applicants, saying that it's an invasion of privacy that opens companies to legal liabilities.
The social networking company is also threatening legal action against those who violate its long-standing policy against sharing passwords.
An Associated Press story this week documented cases of job applicants who are being asked, at the interview table, to reveal their Facebook passwords so their prospective employers can check their backgrounds.
In a post on Friday, Facebook's chief privacy of policy officer cautioned that if an employer discovers that a job applicant is a member of a protected group, the employer may open itself up to claims of discrimination if it doesn't hire that person.
"As a user, you shouldn't be forced to share your private information and communications just to get a job," wrote Erin Egan. "And as the friend of a user, you shouldn't have to worry that your private information or communications will be revealed to someone you don't know and didn't intend to share with just because that user is looking for a job."
Not sharing passwords is a basic tenet of online conduct. Aside from the privacy concerns, Facebook considers the practice a security risk.
Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes said that the company doesn't think employers should be asking applicants for their passwords because "we don't think it's the right thing to do."
"While we do not have any immediate plans to take legal action against any specific employers, we look forward to engaging with policymakers and other stakeholders, to help better safeguard the privacy of our users," he said.
Glad to hear fb is speaking out about this.
Source
"While we do not have any immediate plans to take legal action against any specific employers, we look forward to engaging with policymakers and other stakeholders, to help better safeguard the privacy of our users," he said.
Who in the FUCKING hell would give ANY of their social media passwords to an employer?!?! Prospective or current.
Am I just that old that I would get up and walk away from the interview table or am I that cranky?
Maybe it's both.
Plus, actually, my FB is not in my lj name *or* my real name, so it's not like i'd give it out, anyway.
Go, Facebook.
Same here. Besides the fact that I don't do stupid shit at parties to end up on facebook in the first place, my friends all know how cautious I am so they don't take many photos of me at their parties other than normal shots of friends smiling at the camera together. My facebook is basically bare bones contact information, employment/education history, and a way for friends to send me invites to stuff. I don't list my religious beliefs nor do I list my political stances because I don't want a potential client to decide whether or not to hire me based on either of those. Hire me based on my resume and portfolio (I'm an illustrator), not my personal life!
Go facebook, indeed, for actually standing up for user privacy. For once.
This, yes.
Edited at 2012-03-24 12:52 pm (UTC)
Just my two sense, though.
Don't judge a person by their Facebook page.
You don't OWN me. When I am not at my appointed place of work, and you are not paying me, WHAT I LEGALLY DO IS NOT YOUR FUCKING CONCERN. It doesn't matter who I talk to, what I like, what I say. GO FUCK YOURSELVES.
To illustrate how fucking ridiculous is - when you join the military, they DO own you 24/7, you can get in trouble for ANYTHING they deem to be "detrimental to the service", and THEY don't ask for your internet site logon information.