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Is it OK for a job interviewer to ask for your Facebook login?
Is it OK for a job interviewer to ask for your Facebook login?
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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. Mr. 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. Mr. 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 publicly 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 security guard 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 Mr. Collins, whose case inspired Maryland's legislation. Until last year, the city of Bozeman, Montana, 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, Illionis, 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. Mr. Thomas said that �speaks well of the people we have apply.� When asked what sort of material would jeopardize job prospects, Mr. Thomas said �it depends on the situation� but could include �inappropriate pictures or relationships with people who are underage, illegal behaviour.� 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. Mr. Bryan said she is troubled by companies asking for logins, but she feels it's not 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, Mr. 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 no real 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. But Lori Andrews, 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,� Mr. 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.� |
This is what I think...
OHHHHH HEEEEEEELLLLLLLL NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!
I've signed agreements before about social media at work, where you don't release confidential information. Don't release client information, locations, etc... pretty much, don't talk about work outside of work, and if you do, don't be specific. But many places have that.
As for people creeping, I've had someone higher up in the company check on me by using someone elses profile. You never know who knows who, so unless you keep a very tight friends list, even if you have it set to private, anyone who knows anyone who you FB friends with, they can just try to use theirs.
But that is just spying IMO and I would fight them to the death if they try to get me for something they find by that method.
Now, have I tried to be more careful in recent years, yes. More cautious of what I post, or what my subordinates my see IF they somehow manage to get on there, sure. But i'm not gonna mine through all my old stuff and start hiding shit that was perfectly fine then just because someone may look down upon it now.
In the end, I think they have no right to know who my friends are, or what i've done before. All they need is my work and education history, a criminal check if they want, and a personal reference. Anything else they may request and I can choose to oblige or deny. And my denial should not affect my candidacy for the position.
If I was to "friend" someone, which maybe would be the VERY limits of what I would be willing to do, they would automatically be placed in a group intended for such a person. A work person, which I currently have set up for people I work with. Not completely restricted, but not wide open. They can see some posts, some statuses, some pictures from vacations, but nothing tagged, no friend comments, no wall posts by friens, no likes, no groups, etc.
Such bullshit that we've come to this... meet a girl at the club and stalk her on FB fine, but your employer!?! 
The more social media gets implemented the more it will be acceptable. Sure the refusal will be there initially, but you'll let your guard down later on.
the other day somebody asked me how old i was and I thought that was absurd, but this is much worse.
Just another reason I'm so damn happy I never signed up to facebook, so I don't have to deal with this shit.
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| Originally posted by Dior Homme The more social media gets implemented the more it will be acceptable. Sure the refusal will be there initially, but you'll let your guard down later on. |
"I don't have FB" is a simple enough answer
and there ARE still people out who stayed away or closed down their accounts
I don't even have my real last name on there lol
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| Originally posted by FunkyCrew "I don't have FB" is a simple enough answer and there ARE still people out who stayed away or closed down their accounts I don't even have my real last name on there lol |
This is a huge invasion of privacy and won't be tolerated, some companies in the US have just been getting away with it cause of the high unemployment rate.
I'd never consent to it.
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| Originally posted by Orko What if they asked for your email address? Email is as integrated as it gets, but the logic does not hold true. If a prospective employer asked me for my facebook LOGIN, I would spit in their face. |
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| Originally posted by FunkyCrew "I don't have FB" is a simple enough answer and there ARE still people out who stayed away or closed down their accounts I don't even have my real last name on there lol |
^^^
Agreed. I have my facebook locked down pretty well, even for my friends. I've hidden all tagged photos and watch what I post. I'm in the same boat. I'd possibly "friend" someone in HR, if they really thought it was necessary, but I'd never provide my login information. That just seems overboard.
Never.
Might as well just give them your house keys.
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| Originally posted by cono_sur Never. Might as well just give them your house keys. |
If they asked for my UN/PW I'd totally give it to them, along with my bank card and account password. Any company should have access to their potential employees spending habits 
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| Originally posted by Dior Homme The more social media gets implemented the more it will be acceptable. Sure the refusal will be there initially, but you'll let your guard down later on. |
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| Originally posted by infinity HiGH Let my guard down? Am I going to give my login details when I least expect it? Pretty sure the answer will always be no...even if they drug me. |
hell no...
If they asked me that I would tell them to stick their job up their ass
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| Originally posted by cammaxwell This is a huge invasion of privacy and won't be tolerated |
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| Originally posted by cammaxwell This is a huge invasion of privacy and won't be tolerated |
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| Originally posted by Ferg If they asked me that I would tell them to stick their job up their ass |
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| Originally posted by cammaxwell This is a huge invasion of privacy and won't be tolerated |
I created a subgroup on Facebook with all coworkers-managers, so whenever I post something during work hours or something that might stir some shit, I just exclude that group from the post. Works like a charm.
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| Originally posted by malek I created a subgroup on Facebook with all coworkers-managers, so whenever I post something during work hours or something that might stir some shit, I just exclude that group from the post. Works like a charm. |
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