Could employers begin asking for Facebook passwords on applications?

[Anti Federalist]

Could?


Could employers begin asking for Facebook passwords on applications?

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technology-blog/could-employers-begin-asking-facebook-passwords-applications-175240701.html

By Mike Wehner, Tecca | Today in Tech – Wed, Nov 30, 2011

For all the good it can do...

(What good? I fail to see the good in willingly vomiting up every aspect of your life into an admitted government data mining site - AF)

...social networking also has its share of downsides. Putting personal information of any kind on the internet raises plenty of privacy concerns on its own, and handing over your username and password can be like giving away the keys to your very identity. But if you're in the process of seeking new employment, that may be exactly what you'll have to do.

The image below is a snapshot of an application from North Carolina for a clerical position at a police department. One of the required pieces of information is a disclosure of any social networking accounts, along with the username and password to access them.

http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/P3jNAKWb_Qes7mAU.YY6Kw--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTYzMA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en/blogs/technews/mw-630-reddit-sportztawk-job-application.jpg

You don't have to be a security expert to realize that asking for such information is out of the ordinary. Depending on how much detail and private information you choose to post on Facebook, Google+, or MySpace, relinquishing your password would allow your would-be employer to investigate every area of your life. Aside from status updates that may be secured for only friends to view, logging in to your account provides access to private messages, chat logs, and any number of other potentially damaging tidbits.

We've known for a while that companies often scour social networks when considering a new employee, so keeping party photos and scandalous posts out of the public eye is well advised. And while this particular application appears — for now, at least — to be an isolated case of an employer overreaching their bounds, it highlights a growing problem with social network privacy.

Sites like Facebook have become a one-stop-shop to learn anything and everything about a person. For anyone — especially a company or potential employer — to casually request access to that information is as bold as asking for a copy of person's house keys. Would you agree to a full search of your home and worldly possessions in order to land a job? If the answer is no, then you should be just as hesitant to let someone rummage around inside your online identity.

[brandon]

It's really simple to make your facebook account private, so only your approved friends can see any of the contents. I don't know why anyone keep theirs public.

[oyarde]

I do not have one :) , only a cell phone , they have my phone number , that is all they get , my choice to answer , caller id .

[Anti Federalist]

It's really simple to make your facebook account private, so only your approved friends can see any of the contents. I don't know why anyone keep theirs public.

Umm, I don't myfacespacelinkedinbook, but if you have to reveal your passwords, isn't that a moot point?

[angelatc]

Oh please, save me government, from somebody who is showing all the signs of being a horrible employer.

Oh wait - it is the government.

[Anti Federalist]

Oh please, save me government, from somebody who is showing all the signs of being a horrible employer.

In this case, the employer is government.

But if you think corporations and business can't oppress people just as handily as government, then you are woefully unaware of history.

[angelatc]

In this case, the employer is government.

But if you think corporations and business can't oppress people just as handily as government, then you are woefully unaware of history.

I can at least choose my oppressor. Prime example; I refuse to work at corporations that require drug testing, even though I can't remember the last time I even smelled pot.

[smithtg]

wtf your password too? sounds like someone in an office in HR is bored with their own account so they will mess with yours

[brandon]

But if you think corporations and business can't oppress people just as handily as government, then you are woefully unaware of history.

Strong argument. Let me try it: If you think corporations and business can oppress people just as handily as government, then you are woefully unaware of history.

That was easy ;)

[Bruno]

Dupe

[Anti Federalist]

I can at least choose my oppressor. Prime example; I refuse to work at corporations that require drug testing, even though I can't remember the last time I even smelled pot.

Then you have a little breathing room.

I don't anymore.

Every operation in my line of work is going to institute DNA hair follicle drug testing (god knows what else they'll root around in my genetics for as well..

There will be no going to work for anybody else.

They all will be doing it, without a single law requiring it.

It will be coming to you soon.

[Bruno]

Sure! My fb password is: Takeyourfuckingjobandshoveit2011.

[RileyE104]

Why not just say you don't have any social network accounts?

When I was in High School, they used to ask for our phones during major tests.
I always told the teacher I didn't have one. :)


* All you have to do is block your name from showing results when searched on Facebook and then only let friends view your account images and info.

[Agorism]

Do you have any email accounts?

If so please list login and password.

[Anti Federalist]

Strong argument. Let me try it: If you think corporations and business can oppress people just as handily as government, then you are woefully unaware of history.

That was easy ;)

Read the history of the mining companies of WV.

What they did to people there.

I have an older friend of mine who's dad lived through it.

How, if you raised any kind of stink, paid company goons would kick in your door and drag you off into the woods to be shot.

There are thousands of examples of this and lesser tyrannies.

[brandon]

Read the history of the mining companies of WV.

What they did to people there.


Did they carry out a genocide of 6 million people? Because that's the kind of oppression governments are capable of.

[oyarde]

Read the history of the mining companies of WV.

What they did to people there.

I have an older friend of mine who's dad lived through it.

How, if you raised any kind of stink, paid company goons would kick in your door and drag you off into the woods to be shot.

There are thousands of examples of this and lesser tyrannies. I am familiar with Matewan.

[kylejack]

Why not just say you don't have any social network accounts?

Fine for most jobs, but A) make sure you have your social media accounts locked down so that they can't be found and B) be careful lying on a government job application, because it may be a crime.

[Danke]

I have nothing to hide.

[Anti Federalist]

Did they carry out a genocide of 6 million people? Because that's the kind of oppression governments are capable of.

No, they helped carry it out, they helped supply the needed equipment to "process" what actually worked out be 12 million people.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_and_the_Holocaust

Big business worked hand in hand with big government to slaughter a whole generation.

Just like they are preparing to do now.

[oyarde]

Why not just say you don't have any social network accounts?

When I was in High School, they used to ask for our phones during major tests.
I always told the teacher I didn't have one. :)


* All you have to do is block your name from showing results when searched on Facebook and then only let friends view your account images and info. I do not have any , so that is what I would say :)

[angelatc]

Read the history of the mining companies of WV.

What they did to people there.

I have an older friend of mine who's dad lived through it.

How, if you raised any kind of stink, paid company goons would kick in your door and drag you off into the woods to be shot.

There are thousands of examples of this and lesser tyrannies.

All with the help of the local government. So the workers got their goons, the federal government, to come in and fix it, rather than moving or banding together. Brilliant plan. Thank them so much from me.

[Anti Federalist]

I have nothing to hide.

Yeah, right...

[angelatc]

Then you have a little breathing room.

I don't anymore.

Every operation in my line of work is going to institute DNA hair follicle drug testing (god knows what else they'll root around in my genetics for as well..

There will be no going to work for anybody else.

They all will be doing it, without a single law requiring it.

It will be coming to you soon.

<shrugs> I'll start my own firm, and work cheaper. Or I'll find a new line of work. Until the government gets involved, I don't really care.

[Anti Federalist]

All with the help of the local government. So the workers got their goons, the federal government, to come in and fix it, rather than moving or banding together. Brilliant plan. Thank them so much from me.

No, actually they didn't.

They did band together, they did fight off the corrupt goons and cops, and they took casualties.

My friend's father was one of them.

Which only goes to show that people 75 years ago had ten times the guts that we have now, and that includes me and you.

Because all either one of us are doing right now is impotently complaining on an internet message board.

[Anti Federalist]

<shrugs> I'll start my own firm, and work cheaper. Or I'll find a new line of work. Until the government gets involved, I don't really care.

Depending on what line of work it is (and that list is expanding every day) then you will be required to drug test yourself.

You're whistling past the graveyard here.

[Kelly.]

its dumb to ask this question on a application,
why doesnt the cops just request this info from facebook secretly and monitor employees this way?

[low preference guy]

They can ask whatever the fuck they want, and you can answer or not answer whatever you want. Just like I can ask you anything I want, and you can choose to answer or not to answer.

[kylejack]

its dumb to ask this question on a application,
why doesnt the cops just request this info from facebook secretly and monitor employees this way?
Requires a subpoena.

[Kelly.]

Requires a subpoena.

since when does the rule of law matter?
we are the cops/govt, we will do what i want.

[kylejack]

since when does the rule of law matter?
we are the cops/govt, we will do what i want.
FBI can just send a national security letter and bypass subpoena, but local police departments can't get away with this. They are not high enough on the oppression scale, mere peon authoritarians.

[CaptainAmerica]

This is why you should NEVER give an employer your email address.

[Johnny Appleseed]

No Facebook No Job No Worries...