If You Want The Job You’ll Have To Give Me Your Facebook Password
As if it weren’t hard enough to get a job in an economy where unemployment hovers around eight-point-something percent, now some employers feel they have the right to ask candidates for their Facebook username and password so they can see what the prospective employees say and do on their free time, with whom they associate, and if they engage in any unlawful behavior or activities. Legal? That seems to be a big question right now, although it is a violation of Facebook’s TOS. Ethical? No question at all — absolutely not. A civil rights violation? Heck yeah.
The Boston Globe reports:
[Justin] 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.
…
“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.’’
…
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.
…
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.
…
“I think asking for account login credentials is regressive,’’ [Bassett] said. “If you need to put food on the table for your three kids, you can’t afford to stand up for your belief.’’
Â
Â
Enjoy this piece?
… then let us make a small request. The New Civil Rights Movement depends on readers like you to meet our ongoing expenses and continue producing quality progressive journalism. Three Silicon Valley giants consume 70 percent of all online advertising dollars, so we need your help to continue doing what we do.
NCRM is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. From unflinching coverage of religious extremism, to spotlighting efforts to roll back our rights, NCRM continues to speak truth to power. America needs independent voices like NCRM to be sure no one is forgotten.
Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Help ensure NCRM remains independent long into the future. Support progressive journalism with a one-time contribution to NCRM, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click here to donate by check.