Job seekers have long dreaded certain interview questions such as “where do you see yourself in five years?” But that type of inquiry now seems fairly innocuous, considering a new question employers have been asking during interviews: “May I have your Facebook username and password?” That’s right. In addition to checking out your social profile page, some employers are now requesting full access to your social account. This new trend has alarmed many job seekers, causing many to question the ethics — and legality — of an employer probing your social life.
As social networks have grown in popularity over the last few years, it has become common knowledge that employers will often do an Internet search and review public social profiles in an effort to learn more about the potential candidate. However, requesting full access to a candidate’s accounts is a new trend that is worrisome to say the least.
Some employers will ask a candidate for their username/password, while others may request a candidate “friend” an HR manager or request they review their account on a company computer. Continuing this social media monitoring, once you get the job, some companies make employees sign contracts stating they will not disparage the company on social media.
These new policies have left many uneasy and raised concerns about the issue of privacy invasion, professional vs. private life boundaries, and even identity theft. Employers maintain they are simply vetting candidates more efficiently, particularly in certain fields such as law enforcement, security, or for public agencies. Still, the practice has not been fully condoned or accepted, and more and more candidates are facing a dilemma. Job seekers uncomfortable with giving their information out may sacrifice job opportunities that are much needed in the current economy, meaning they may be trading privacy for a paycheck.
Luckily, the issue has attracted the attention of lawmakers. Both Illinois and Maryland have proposed legislation that would forbid public agencies from asking for access to social networks. And at the federal level, New York Senator Chuck Schumer and Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal have requested further investigation by the Department of Justice and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
“Employers have no right to ask job applicants for their house keys or to read their diaries – why should they be able to ask them for their Facebook passwords and gain unwarranted access to a trove of private information about what we like, what messages we send to people, or who we are friends with?” Schumer said in statement.
Requesting private passwords as an employment requirement may violate the Stored Communications Act or the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, making leaders eager to examine the issue more closely.
In response to this action, last week Facebook also addressed the issue. “We don’t think employers should be asking prospective employees to provide 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 policy makers and other stakeholders, to help better safeguard the privacy of our users,” the social networking platform said in a statement.
In the absence of legislation protecting potential employees from this specific practice, it is up to the individual to decide whether or not to comply. In general, sharing usernames and passwords can be a very dangerous practice. Whether or not you plan to acquiesce to an employer’s request, it’s always a good idea to review and “clean” your profile by removing messages, photos, or content that might be inappropriate. You may also want to change your password (if you happen to use the same password for other things like online banking or email).
While the legality is being looked into and debated, such practices is in direct violation of many social networking sites TOS.
I can’t believe this being looked into as a “possible” violation of privacy. It is CLEARLY a violation of privacy. I have no facebook, no twitter or any other social presence on the web. Period. I saw this day coming years ago, when I read about lawyers that have data mining the hell out of everything online. This was probably 8-10 years back. Lawers were dredging for anything that they can use in court against people, defendants, plantiffs, witness, anyone involved to discredit testimony. NOW however, it’s police, Psychiatrists (if it can be shown that you’ve every had to seek psyc help, your testimony is almost dead before it’s given) Everyone has gathering this info for some time now. Of course now it’s big businesses turn. This country has been going to hell in a handbasket, and has been for years. Does anyone know about the Carnivore program the the FBI installed back in.. mmmm 97 or so? The ability to read ANY email on the net. Been there a long time too. I’m actually not completely surprised about this last move by companies either. Seems pretty unscrupulous, but it’s not much worse than what they’ve been doing the past year or so, telling the unemployed not to bother even applying as only “employed” people can apply. Nice companies eh?
Makes me damned glad I’m not an American!
Yeah, those Americans. It could never happen in, let’s say, the EU. In the EU some countries are just thinking of restricting access to the net altogether, or allowing police to use trojans. All in the name of fighting crime and protecting children.
you are correct. it is called facsism. your rights do not end in the work place. i recently was asked this very question bye a prospective employer i was working for through a temp company. i told them i dont do any such social networking. so they produced some paper work for me to sighn that stated i would “TURN IN MY PASSWORDS IF HIRED” i responded bye reminding them that that was an illegal invasion of my privacy and if they showed me such paperwork in the future they were going to get sued. they immediatly backed off and it became a non issue.
STAND UP FOR YOUR SELVES!
i bought a certain iyem for my buisness and it was posted on my timeline- i didn’t post that- they seem to really know more and use more than we intended. this is not just an american problem btw its invasion of privacy and “head hunters are using facebook as a tool to get you to work for them un solicitated.
For someone to login as me is fraud; even the companies themselves train us to not divulge our passwords to anyone. That leaves no exceptions.
that is absolutely absurd. This wins the biggest invasion of privacy I’ve seen so far this week. I suppose if I were applying for a security position, they should give points to those who choose not to disclose this information. Considering many users synchronize passwords across accounts, this opens up a huge hole for any malicious parties involved to exploit. I wonder what types of guarantee they offer that the password will be protected once in their possession; and with this thought comes, are they legally liable if the account information becomes comprised by fault of theirs…
Uh who has only one facebook account. I have one for family, one for hobbies, and one for work. If I were looking for a job, I would craft a Facebook account like I would a resume. But start a least a year prior to looking for work. “Like” professional organizations, post the occasional comment on articles, etc.
Employers need to be very careful in depending on this sort of information. It is so easy to create a false personna on sites like Facebook.
You need to get out more.
False Personas’ are a given on the Net. – Who thinks no one creates false IDs on the Net? – Wait – they must be the same people who think Wikipedia articles can be used as valid research references.
I have two facebook accounts. If asked I would give them the clean one with pictures and a few nonsense messages and “friends” while keeping my real account off limits.
If employers get away with this the next stop will be to demand access to your home anytime they see fit. George Orwell thought it would be an invasive government that did this. Little did he know the government would be in bed with employers in an attempt to strip our Constitutional Rights.
In all the articles that I have read on this topic they have referrer to “Employers”. I suggest that the names of those companies be made public. After all if they feel that it is their right to ask for that information then they should have no problem with their name being published.
great post, i agree. let them be public so they can take some public heat for their policies
I agree and they can share how many times they have thoughts that don’t relate to work. There personal sexual proclivities. Where would it stop. At some point there must be an enforceable boundary between work and private life. Yes my pilot should not take drugs or drink within so many hours of his flying the plane I am on. If he/she went to a strip club or saw an in-room movie an hour before the flight, that’s none of my business or the companies.
After giving your personal info to potential employers, go online immediately and change your password.
This should also be a wakeup call to have one separate password for each social account which is not connected to any other passwords you use.
This would be my advise for those who feel they have a better chance at job by giving out this private info.
Not to mention that this is an invasion of your friends’ privacy as well since the employer will be able to view what they post as well. While I do hope lawmakers move to end such practices, in the meantime this makes it easy for job seekers: do you really want to work for a company that thinks it’s okay to do that? In all honesty I can say that if I was asked this in an interview I would smile, close my notebook, put away my pen, and say, “Thank you for your time. And thank you for telling me everything I need to know about your company. I don’t think we share the same set of values. Good day.”
you are absolutely right, Randy, and that alone should make it entirely illegal for any employer to gain access to anyone’s FB information, since it also violates the privacy of the family and friends of that person. Entirely without their knowledge! I completely agree with your statement as to what your reply would be, since they are requesting something entirely unethical!!
Excellent thinking, Randy! I agree whole-heartedly. I hope that potential job-seekers will have the courage to do just that, and at the very least, to say ‘absolutely not!’
Easy answer………either don’t belong to Facebook or tell them you don’t!. As a retired H.R.Manager I find this practice abhorrent. The first thing I did when I joined one particular company was to remove the ‘Religion’ question from all employment application forms.
Employers are not allowed to ask any questions which would reveal that you are a part of any protected classes, such as your race, religion ethnicity, or marital status. In other words, they can’t ask you where (or if) you go to church because that would reveal your religion. Knowing your religion could influence their decision, therefore they can’t ask any question in which the answer might reveal that protected information. By accessing your Facebook account they are also accessing that protected info, therefore anyone who provided their FB info and was then not hired would have legitimate grounds for a civil suit against the employer.
Agreed. It is illegal for an employer to ask your age, race (except as required for EEO laws), religion, marital/family/relationship status, sexual orientation, etc. Yet giving access to your FB account would hand them all this information. If they want to look me up online, fine. I’ve locked my FB account out for “non-friends” and I have no intention of “friending” anyone from my company (another tactic some companies use). If you’re fool enough to leave your account info open, AND you post stupid stuff online, then I guess you get what you deserve when they go looking for you.
Exceptional point.
That is tremendous… My answer is:
- ID on FB is clear though it could be confusing to find me with homonyms
- email access : i forgot it it is a only for FB email
- password : as for email, i have roughly 50 PW at the minimum and no easy ones.
- last : i access FB every 3 months, in conditions where not to lead to interconnecting with other private features/IDs.
A while ago I thought to be paranoiac. Now I just consider being normally safe.
Absolutely! I read of this in a newspaper feed last week and was horrified. Are we all now Number 6? I am a job seeker age 60 and always comply, but there is no way this can be allowed. Patrick McGoohan was asked ‘Why did you leave your last job?’
If any employer insisted on my Facebook password I’d probably walk out. I could always create a dummy account and give them that, but it would suggest to me that they were not an ethical employer and probably not one I’d enjoy working with anyway.
An employer should have access to personal login names and passwords to Facebook, other social networks, and personal email accounts IF AND ONLY IF the employee uses those accounts on company owned computers connected to company owned networks while at work.
No, no, no. That implies that the employee’s personal life is the property of their employer. Company computers may be accessed without restraint by employers who own them to inspect what you as an employee do at work, NOT what you do on your own time.
If companies want to have control over our private lives then they ought to start paying you for your private time too! But the truth is that employers don’t own your time, they RENT it. Ownership implies slavery. It occurs to me a war was fought to get rid of that, now we have employers trying to bring it back. No thanks.
You did not read my entire comment. Employers only have rights to what goes on in their office on their equipment. The only right my employer has over my laptop is to say whether or not I can connect it to the company network. If I have personal wifi access to the internet, I can use my social networks at lunch or break and the only thing my employer can do is turn off the lights.
And as long as you are NOT using the company computers/wi-fi/network then I agree with you. As an employer I would NEVER ask for FB passwords (or any other sites) but I do expect my employees to be working when they use my equipment and are being paid by me; anything less contitutes theft
So does this mean if you don’t have a facebook page you are unemployable?
I can’t believe anyone would even consider this an issue. Not only would I say absolutely not. I wouldn’t work for someone that thought it was ok to think they had the right to invade my privacy.
I would answer the request with a question. Do you expect me to keep the company supplied account I would get if hired secret. If I was willing to give a FB password there is a good chance I would have no problem giving the companies network password out.
The other being that there is information on FB that is illegal for a company to ask for and they would be in violation of the intent of such laws
I have a facebook account, but under a phony, fictitious name, and a phony, fictitious location. I allow a very few close friends on there, but they all know who I really am. As for potential employers, any employer who would disregard my personal privacy so blatantly is not worth working for. I would like to have a job, but not if it means I have to give up my privacy. Sorry, potential employers, you’re fired. Yeah, firing works both ways, and I just fired YOU.
I will be actually running for representative of the area that I live, and am going to touch on this until I make it to where businesses can’t do that to employees or people they are thinking of hiring
I will be actually running for representative of the area that I live, and am going to touch on this until I make it to where businesses can’t do that to employees or people they are thinking of hiring
If an employer asked me for my details I’d counter asking for his bank account and password so I could prove he had the means to pay me.
Missed a trick there. You should ask for the full log-in details of the account, which would actually give you the power to pay yourself (or transfer large sums anywhere you chose)!
This article should reveal the companies that exercise this practice, otherwise it lacks validity and would appear to be no more than speculative scaremongering.
The ‘price’ of freedom is eternal vigilance. Someone important said that once! But if I say to you: ‘give me $50′ and you DO it, who is the idiot? In fact, legally no law can protect against idiocy.
I am amazed, at how easily people can be patriotic, nationalistic and salute at military march-pasts in all countries, and, almost whimsically, hand over their ‘freedoms’, simply because someone in authority said so. You are in fact, just too damn lazy to stand up for the ‘rights’ that have already been paid for, in blood, by your ancestors. More fool you! Hallalujah lixtof & Adam!!
Because an authority, demands $50, doesn’t make them your enemy, or protector, they are just an authority. It’s what they do. Stop being damn sheep!!
Setup the mobile phone authorisation, if any un-authorised computer tries to access you get sent a text.
You have supplied the details they have asked for, but without the info in the text they cant access your account, giving you time to change the password.
But likewise I have 2 accounts, one for family & one for games.
What about people who don’t have any social media accounts? Will they be looked at as liars?
This is not so much an issue for legislators as it is for law enforcement. Employers who request passwords to employees’ or prospective employees’ social site passwords are in very clear violation of the Privacy Act of 1974. Regardless of the media form in which personal information is stored, there is personal data stored on such sites that is protected under the Act and therefore is off-limits to employers. Such employers should be prosecuted vigorously, up to and including loss of their business licenses and Federal revocation of their corporate charters.
Hey I can agree to this one. Anyone who asks for that personal information should be sued but one key fact is I would look at it as a Security question. If they give the information they are a security risk for my company and possibly can’t be trusted or if they don’t I may be able to trust them because they refused. This right here would be the only reason I can see for them asking for this kind of information but I would highly recommend that if it’s this reasoning it be on paper with a signature so that the employee and employer are safe in the hiring phase and weed out security risks. In a way it shouldn’t be asked because it is personal but it could be used as a tactic only to see about security via the person and if they can be trusted.
When asked to provide such information, my response would be: “Sure, if you will provide me access to your employee directory. You obviously wish to obtain as much information about me as possible to make a choice as to whether I am a good candidate. Likewise I would like as much information as possible about your company [organization] to also assess whether I would want to work here.” Their response might be that such company information is private, to which I would respond “Touche’!”. That of course would be the end of the interview, but without providing the requested Facebook info, no candidate would be considered further, nor would I want to work for such an organization.
This question is an invasion of privacy. The company that I currently work for uses your FaceBook postings against you so it is a good idea to be careful what you post and who you friend at work because rather than ask for your password they encourage you to add the company FaceBook page to your friends list that way they can spy on what you think without having to as for your ID and password. Asking for religious affiliation is another invasion of privacy and the last larger company that I worked for used that question for promotion eligibility. If you belonged to a certain religious denomination and congregation you got preferential treatment in all promotion and retention decisions. So if you were less/not qualified for the position that you were applying for but belonged to a certain congregation you automatically got the promotion to that position. And if you couldn’t do the job the others would cover for you to protect their own. It is not fair but it does happen and nobody said life or work was fair.
For sure on the life part but the other part as far as the religion is concerned that is just like being racist or sexist. The problem is companies seem to be getting away with it more and more. Walmart a large company I here downgrades women by leaving them in lower positions than men at times. I hear some things are changing but the problem is it won’t stop while these large businesses are still controlling things and able to get away with it but smaller and medium ones at times don’t and law suites and all that seems to be an issue.
Easy answer – just say you haven’t got one – just like me.
I would not give them my FB password any more than I would give them the password to my online bank account. I do not support identity theft.
Totally a good point on this and that is how I explain it that it’s like asking for your bank account, car or home. This is not a good way to start a relationship with a future employee.
If an employer would like to know so much about me that he asks for free access to my FB account, what about me, as a candidate, asking the employer to unveil his accounting books? I would hate to work for an employer that would go belly-up after a few months I’ve got hired.
By the way, I still don’t have FB account.
HAHA – say, “sure” then ask for their company emails and pass words in return so that you can make sure that they are not doing anything illegal! Then ask for all their account info, FBI records etc so that you can make sure that you are working with a legit company!
I had the same thought. Haha.
I don’t see how that should be any different. Fair’s fair.
From an IT Security point of view, one just shouldn’t pass one’s password to another person.
Yes agreed to this but the problem is you should also secure your account with a good password and also by not allowing it to be open.
Your employer has no right period. But then again you can also say sure look at it but 1st I don’t have a facebook you chooches ,meaning Jackassess.
So Why even worry about it America Wake up
I haven’t read all of the post, but what seem clear, and legally relevant, is whether the social network user has an expectation of privacy. In the context of a social network this is perhaps a new and unique take, which warrants serious discussion. As well, a participant can greatly restrict access to their particular account to chosen ‘friends’, therefore raising the expectation of privacy. A ‘fully’ open account, accessible to anyone, may well, and in a legal sense, lower the expectation of privacy. As such, I would advise limiting access to any social networking account to ‘friends,’ or whatever term that greatly limits public access. I am confident that this may well constitute the legal ‘mechanism’ by which prospective employers can appropriate the contents of a candidate’s facebook, or similar account. In short, new law/s concerning websites like facebook may well fall under the concept of “expectation of privacy,” and appropriate limits, as indicated, might be a reasonable approach to protecting said privacy. Thank you.
I just took a look at the FB Terms contract. Has anyone taken the time to read it? You should.
Date of Last Revision: April 26, 2011.
Statement of Rights and Responsibilities
…
Section 3: Safety
Item 5: You will not solicit login information or access an account belonging to someone else.
…
Section 4. Registration and Account Security
Item 8 You will not share your password, (or in the case of developers, your secret key), let anyone else access your account, or do anything else that might jeopardize the security of your account.
According to the FB Terms contract, you are not to share your password, and they are not to access someone else’s account.
Would you want to work for a company who would ask you to break a contract? What does that say about their integrity? And what would it say about yours if you agreed?
So tactics in response:
1- ask for the request in writing, on headed paper
2- tell them that you are not a security risk to their secret information. And to prove it, you won’t give them your username or password to FB
3- if they don’t give you the job, forward their request which you received in writing to Facebook, and suggest that Facebook close down their corporate account as they have violated the terms of the agreement
It isn’t blackmail – you could of course forward their written request to FB anyway whether you get the job or not
I can agree to that. My example would be if someone wants to hire you and you have a contract with someone else you can’t work at both places because of the agreement but there are ways to get around that by asking your employer if you can work for the other one at the same time but making sure you don’t give information to either one about the other would be the terms. Still breaching a contract that you agree to by the future employer asking for that personal information shouldn’t be aloud and all employers should know the facts of FB and any other social media site and shouldn’t be aloud to ask for it and if they do it’s to be in writing along with a refusal or non-refusal signature and a copy for the future employee and the employer. This way there can be no law suite unless the employee isn’t hired due to the reason of not providing that information. Legal vs Illegal. Basically employers may be asking to see if you give in or don’t but either way it shouldn’t be aloud at all unless just as a test to see if you keep your agreement with FB by not giving that information.
All of you people who say you wouldn’t work for a company who asked for passwords because you think they are unethical, I have a point to bring up. Would you give these same companies your urine? Certainly not,(most of you already have) urinalysis is a cop out for poor management. Any manager worth their salt will know when one of their employees has a problem. All of this is a violation of your civil rights and has been intensifying for the last 40 years. When you fool around with things the aristocracy questions you will inevitably pay the piper and there is no one to blame but yourself.
Well said!
Urine samples might be personal but to request for that information is like asking for your bank account, car or keys to your personal home Ed. Social media is to connect with others friends, family, etc. It may be putting down others and other things like phone chatter online but this is totally different from your example of a urine sample and even drugs and alcohol testing. Those are in my opinion legal tests so that it doesn’t cause accidents on the job. Try using a better example than what employers already do such as Urine Samples because that is something that needs/should be done because of the drugs and alcohol problems of this age. Trust is another thing I will bring up. If you have to ask for that personal information and you don’t hire to build trust that is telling that future employer you don’t trust or want to trust them. You want to bring points to the table you will have to do better than this one that you are using as an Excuse to put down the fact that users should give their personal information for online access.
Drug testing does NOTHING to prevent accidents in the workplace.
Drug tests are easy to beat for anyone that knows what they are doing. So the hard core drug users, the ones that MIGHT actually cause a danger won’t get caught. The occasional user that shares a joint with a friend on Saturday night is the one that will be fired.
Also, the labs that do drug testing have been proven to have unprofessional standards and high error rates. They are not subject to the same checks and balances that medical labs are.
It the same argument against the back scatter scanners at the airport. These are not medical technicians using the xray machine on you, and it NEVER HAS TO BE CALIBRATED to make sure it’s safe.
The simple solution is to state clearly that giving your password is a violation of FBs terms of service, and while you would LIKE to provide the information they are requesting, you are legally unable to do so.
I think companies are opening themselves up for a peck of trouble by requesting employee’s userids and passwords. As we already know, employees sometimes fail to comply with company policies. What happens if someone with access to your account posts false or defamatory information to your account, or posts defamatory information about someone else while pretending to be you? You know it will happen. So where will the company be when that happens? I suspect the risks to the company will turn out to be vastly larger than the small tidbit of information they hope to gain from that access.
I recently posted on FB that “I wish I had more hours at work because I had 3 children to support”
Having several coworkers and my manager as FB friends, I was quickly forced to resign, even though I never publicly mentioned the company name, or the name of the worker who was getting my hours.
Lesson learned, I removed them all from FB, but in the process let my job.
IF EVER ASKED BY A POSSIBLE EMPLOYER TO PROVIDE MY FB INFO, THE ANSWER IS NO!!! People, never give out your private information. I learned the hard way, don’t even have your coworkers as friends. They are not always your REAL friends!
Has anyone actually heard of any specific employer asking for FB credentials or is this just a bogus story?
I’ve worked in Human Resources for a bunch of companies and nothing even close to this has ever been suggested. I think the story is phony and an excuse to have our legislators pass more laws to benefit trial lawyers.
There is a more effective way of dealing wiht this issue, but unfortunately, it’s available only to skilled programmers and their closest confidants. You create a facebook page and program it with a malicious script that infects any computer opening that page. You give the login id and password only to potential employers who request it. When they open it, their computer gets infected and suffers whatever damage the script has been programmed to do. A skilled prgrammer can create a script that avoids detection and slips in underneath a corporate security system. While the damage may be traceable to that facebook page, you can always deny any knowledge of such scripts existence and say you must have been hacked yourself
I once went to work for a company that would not show me through their facility prior to agreeing to work for them.
Once hired, I realized the reason for the refusal-the place was a chemical deathtrap waiting to happen! Literally! Potassium Cyanide liquid and crystals all over areas of the facility, and breathable silicone dust in other areas.
I left shortly after being hired. I often wonder what the death rate was among the long term employees there, including several pregnant women.
This is a Violation of our constitutional rights and freedom of speech. ALL employers shouldn’t be aloud to Even think yet alone ask for personal information like this. Reason being that is like asking for the keys to your home or car. That is just wrong. I hope there isn’t anything that passes to where everyone is required by law to give social media login names and passwords because that means our full rights would nearly be taken away. Employers respect employees or future employees and trust them. If there is no trust built and asking to have that information shows clearly that you don’t trust anyone outside your company when there could be a Mole inside your company that has been there for years. Consider Facts before requesting for this personal and private information.
Giving your username and password to anyone is a breach of your user agreement.
I’d tell them to their face that would be an inappropriate invasion of privacy and that according to my personal beliefs I would be unable to give them my password. However, I would make a counter-offer – They can get a FaceBook account like everyone else and send me a friend request. They can also create a FB fan page to highlight their business and I could subscribe to that, which I have actually done regarding where I work now. But even if given a court order, I will refuse to surrender my password as a matter of principle.
You could just say, “sure -no problem!” Then, give them this username: “URNIDIOT” and password: “gojumpinalake” …
All of you who are saying “just tell them no”, that’s great, but what are you going to do in the near future when ALL employers demand your password? And yes, that day is coming.
While we are waiting for legislation to criminalize this, we need to be publishing lists of corporations who use this practice, so they can be boycotted.
My answer, “Face.. what?” I have made it a policy to record all of job interviews with a tape and mic hidden on my person.
Possible violation? Possible? How about “clearly”, “definitely”, “absolutely”? Whatever you post is fair game. If you don’t want someone to see it, don’t post it. I wouldn’t even say they have right to insist that you Friend them. Whatever is in public is fair game. Everything else is yours, period. Want to see it? Get a warrant. How is this a difficult topic?
Many people use these sites to vent off to there friends, to invade this private space is the same as asking to sit in your home univited. Its just an excuse to be nosey and find something to pressure or Bully you in the work place.. Its BOLLOCKS,,, The more people tell them NO, then they will give up. its only the ones who say yes are setting the norm!!!!!!
I wonder if this is employers trying to find out if applicants *have* an account with no real expectation of a password being handed over. With some employers blocking Facebook due to lost productivity, maybe they are now just dumping candidates who have an account to save time later.
Why does there need to be a law again? Give me a break.. the employer doesn’t have all the keys to the kingdom. The candidate often has significant power in negotiation / interviewing, but for some reason our society has been brainwashed to think they are inferior. If a law was in place and the employer didn’t ask for your Facebook access would you then want to work for them? There are only so many employees that are willing to give up all privacy like that. I’m guessing the backlash just hasn’t been strong enough yet with lack of needed hiring at those companies. Also, we’re certainly still in a terrible jobless trough in the labor market at this time so some may think they can get away this stuff like this.
a side note: Find something of value you can offer – then name a fair price for it. The current problem we have is a mis-match between what people want to offer (job track they want or have been told to follow) and what people want to pay for. Re-training and education are absolutely critical.
People… we ARE losing our rights, period. YOU don’t have the stones to stand up and put a stop to it. If you do, you are branded an instigator or troublemaker. Employers and government both are slowly taking away your rights. I was told just yesterday if I don’t sign the paper giving away certain rights, I cannot be hired! The HR rep said it doesn’t mean that, I said right there, read it, it says plain as day “I waive my right to…” Now tell me again what it doesn’t mean? I’m sorry, rather I’m not sorry that I’m not waiving ANY of my rights to get a job. So, I remain unemployed…
C’mon people… Every time you apply for a job you sign away some rights. We allow credit checks, background checks, drug screens, medical records, etc. all the time. You cant get a job unless you give up your right for something. I just walked away from a $40,000+ job yesterday because they wanted me to sign something that started with “I waive my right to…” Sorry, NOT HAPPENING! WE need to draw the line somewhere. The HR rep said “Thats not what it means” to which I replied… That’s EXACTLY what it means, are you reading something different than I am? How can “I waive my right to…” mean ANYTHING else?
As others have posted, I saw this coming over fifteen years ago when a trucking company wanted to do a credit check on me. I asked what my credit score could possibly have to do with my ability to do my job. Things have gotten much worse now. Try to get a job without allowing your prospective employer to access your credit score, criminal history, drug screen and or medical history… GOOD LUCK! – - – “We value your privacy”… (but we won’t hire you unless you let us invade it).
The best advice I could give to anyone who doesn’t already have a presence on the internet is to make up an on-line persona and only use that when posting on the internet. My internet name is a combination of my middle name and my father’s first name.
Facebook isn’t the only way an employer can invade your privacy. They can simply do a search for your name (assuming it isn’t something really common) and find out where you have been posting (such as to newsgroups). That way they can gain your political leanings and use that against you in hiring.
Also, NEVER post any personal information on Facebook. I’ve seen Facebook pages where the people list their address and phone number. That’s just asking for trouble!
The bottom line is that your employer has no rights to your personal information. I think this also applies to your credit rating, but there’s no way to stop them from getting that information since you need to give them your SSN to be hired. Whenever I applied for a job I refused to put my SSN on the application. I told them it would be furnished if they hired me. Before that point, they have no right to ask for it. As a matter of fact, I give my SSN to no one unless they can prove it’s necessary that they have it.
If they ask for you social media passwords, just ask them for *their* social media username and passwords…just to make sure they are not saying anything derogatory about interviwees or employees!
I stay miles away from any ‘social’ network, but i’m also afraid the day will come when not having a FB account will not get you the job.
So sir , you have no FB account ? Do you have to hide something ?
1. sharing a facebook username and password is against the terms of service of facebook.
2. It is against the law to violate the terms of service of a social network.
This is by far the grossest violation of privacy rights I have ever seen. No one – not even your employer – has any rights to be snooping into your social networking profiles including Facebook by requesting your username and password.
Besides, you do not sign away any of your lawful free speech rights when you go to work for any employer, whether it may be public or private. Your employer does not own you, especially when you are off company time and off of your employer’s premises. Any employer who believes in knowing any facet of your personal life is considered harassment.
A “possible” violation? I would say it’s a definite violation if they ask for passwords. They can browse a profile (one not set to private) all they like since thats the public domain BUT to ask for a password is to go to far. what’s next? Them asking for your credit card or debit card pin numbers? Or a credit card bill with your numbers so they can check your credcit rating and history? Asking for passwords is wrong (it should be illegal in the same way its illegal to demand your Social Security/Social Insurance number for Identification).
forgot to add re requesting Social Insurance/Social Security (It is illegal for anyone to request it as identification and you do not have to give it to prospective employers until you have been hired-since its important to know I had to add it on to my prior comment)
In Europe it would be illegal for a company (or anyone outside government agencies) to require access to passwords. The fact that it is considered normal (let alone allowed) in the USA is a good reason why people should not trust their data to US-based cloud services. Users of Google, Microsoft et al, take note.
This whole topic is soon to be catalogued in Snopes under “Urban Legend”. Which companies, exactly, are the ones asking for Facebook passwords? Name them. I’d like to know. So would a lot of people. But these media reports never mention the companies because they don’t know who they are – and they can’t prove it even happened. But it makes for a fasinationg story. Oh, I’m sure it has happened somewhere at some time – there are hundreds of thousands of businesses and some employer somewhere probably did ask. But to call it a trend is just absurd and irresponsible journalism. What people should really be outraged at is that these type of isolated cases can take on a life of their own and get blown into a national story. And that’s just what this is – a story.
If I was asked for this, I’d tell them that it is my policy never to reveal confidential information, and ask them if they would trust an employee who did so with THEIR CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.
Wait a minute. Is a potential candidate missing the point? Are they simply looking at how you respond to the question. For instance, here is my answer:
As an employee, you would ask me to keep my passwords and id’s to proprietary, confidential corporate information, or even customer personal identifiable information secure and not disclose passwords to any company employee. Furthermore, you policy probably suggests that you not ask people for such information either. For me to disclose my personal account information in today’s world or identity theft and corporate espionage would jeopardize my integrity and if were in a business environment would risk damaging the company. I respectfully decline such request. I am willing to provide said references of my character which you may contact. You will have to make your decision to hire me based on that information. Anything otherwise just tells both of us that XYZ company is not the right fit for me.
There is NO WAY and I mean NO WAY that an employer(inculding my own) will have access to my personal information or my social media. It’s personally none of my employer’s business what I do in my off time because yes they can find a way to use it against you, or even go for IDENTITY THEFT. If my employer or employer I’m looking to work for ever ask for that information, I will push it to the LIMITS OF THE LAW and make them pay dearly. BELIEVE IT BECAUSE IT WILL HAPPEN
This also happens in New Zealand. I wonder if the company requesting my username and password, would be happy if I post theirs (a username and password) on my facebook profile
Any employer that requests passwords has an HR department that clearly has no knowledge or conception of information security. They need to get educated.
Ha, I doubt any serious company would ask for your FB info because if they don’t give you the job they could then get sued for discrimination (your FB profile can have religious / sexual preferences, along with answers to multiple questions they’re not allowed to ). So basically a company asking this is shooting themselves in the foot.
Would you really want to work for a company that is unethical, invades your and all your freinds privacy, and wants to know what you do in your private time? Ask how would they treat you the rest of the time? The answer would be NO from me – forget the job , their attitude to work-life is not suitable. I would ask that anyone been put in this position publish the company name so that eveyone can see who these companies are.
Surprising that Facebook’s commentator didn’t evoke Section 4 paragraph 8 of Facebook’s terms and conditions, which unambiguously states: “You will not share your password, (or in the case of developers, your secret key), let anyone else access your account, or do anything else that might jeopardize the security of your account.”
What about the common practice of giving up your 5th ammendment rights when you “voluntarily” give your employer permission to drug test you. It is unconstitutional for them to even ask for your personal information. But the catch 22 is, no info, no job !!!!!
I should try asking that next time I interview someone. Anyone who’ll give me their username and password for anything they log into is then immediately shown the door.
You’d have to be a microcephalous idiot to comply.
I was refused a job because I refused to give up my fb username and password…this should not be allowed unless they want to give me theirs. Fair’s fair I think.
With the growing concern over identity theft, if an employer asks you for your password to anything, do not comply. Inform them that for security reasons you no more give personal passwords to anyone than you would give company confidential information to anyone who asked for it.
Interesting, that for all the people demanding names of companies, or doubting the validity of the reporting here, apparently no one’s done a Google search. Not that a simple search would reveal all the companies doing this, but it would at least verify a couple things.
http://www.care2.com/causes/maryland-becomes-first-state-to-outlaw-requesting-facebook-passwords.html
It’s certainly not fake news, and there are links to further articles on source sites within that article.
why hasn’t someone figured out how to hack the interviewer trying to log on to fb accounts with a keystroke logger?
would it not be child’s play to make a fake facebook page that when the interviewer logs in using ‘your’ ID and password to inject a keystroke logger and find out what other crap the person is trying to do?
I know…most are not hackers, but I bet the good guys from Anonymous might help out the little guy and distribute something that would let people do this.
My first reaction would be to say “Certainly, if I can have yours”. I guess I could offer to log myself in on one of their computers and then select ‘Private browsing’ first… Nah, I like my first option, I might even ask the secretary for hers while I’m at it.
As for signing a document not to disparage the company over the ‘net, I’d ask them to sign one promising never to land me in a position when I might want to.
Any employer making this request then becomes a defendent in a mean court case I would succeed with. F ‘em.
simple answer folks.
Just set up cover accounts
and place what you wish certain
neb-noses, what they think they
want to see.
This is an invasion of privacy, will these same “maybe employers” give you an in to their own homelife?, what you do for leasure has nothing with what you do at work, work is 9 to 5 m-f end!, that’ s all they need to know, what?, will they now come to your house too? without a search warrant?, these employers who are asking this are disgusting, ask them for thiers see if they comply.
This is what i would have to say in responce to a question like that if asked at an interview.
Are you asking that question on behalf of the company?
How do i really know your asking that question on behalf of the company?
Any answer is unacceptable in the first place but i figure i should put them on the spot just like they did me!
From my e-mail signature used when corresponding with potential employers:
“Confidentiality agreements prohibit my disclosure of
access information for Facebook, Linked In or
Railroad.Net accounts.”