State agencies, colleges demand applicants' Facebook passwords (Communism around the corner)

msnbc ^ | 3/6/2012 | Bob Sullivan

[tobyhill]

If you think privacy settings on your Facebook and Twitter accounts guarantee future employers or schools can't see your private posts, guess again.

Employers and colleges find the treasure-trove of personal information hiding behind password-protected accounts and privacy walls just too tempting, and increasingly, they are demanding full access from applicants and students.

In Maryland, job seekers applying to the state's Department of Corrections have been asked during interviews to log into their accounts and let an interviewer watch while the potential employee clicks through wall posts, friends, photos and anything else that might be found behind the privacy wall.

[South Dakota]

This is what happens when government runs amok.
People in authority think they can do anything

[bert]

The password to my fake Facebook page is screwu

[vanilla swirl]

Nation of laws vs. Nation of men.

[EBH]

“Social Media Monitoring” by progessive leftists in colleges.

Can you say peer pressure?

I guess there are things better than Fb and Twitter. Just go hang out with your friends ...face to face and really communicate with each other.

We learned this very quickly at one jobsite. If I needed to speak with my boss outside the fenceline or make him aware of something, it was a scan out and a walk over to talk. Nothing, nothing of value went into any of the monitored company email. That said there are thousands of businesses required to keep every freakin’ email for the government to monitor.

Social media monitoring is just the next step...

[rawhide]

I have no Facebook account. Nor any other social messaging account. Am I therefore automatically rejected as an applicant?

I do have FreeRepublic though. Should I be concerned? /s

[Surrounded_too]

Extortion.

It’s a crime.

[tobyhill]

Everyone should be concerned.

[SampleMan]

Over-reaching government is what fills the vacuum of created by gutless people.

[Condor51]

IMHO they should forget about Facebook and instead go after access to people's Photobucket accounts. A lot more can be found/learned by looking at the type of photos a person normally takes.

• Photos of flowers, blue skies and trees in bloom - No Problem.
  
• Photos with the main subject always out of focus - Next applicant please. 'Their elevator doesn't go all the way up'.
  
• Photos of dark gray overcast days - Watch out they're 'troubled' and could Go Postal anytime..
  
• Photos of dead bugs, dead animals, or road kill - Grab your gun and dial 911 asap. Jeffery Dahmer is in front of you.

Oh and never ever promote someone who has pictures of their family all over their desk. Or is always selling Girls Scout Cookies or Church Raffle Tickets. They care more about them than making you money :-)
/s

[Mr. K]

I have a facebook account but I ONLY use it to store photos of my family online, so I dont have to upload or email them to anyone who wants to see them

[bgill]

Bradley Shear, a Washington D.C.-lawyer who says both schools and employers are violating the First Amendment with demands for access to otherwise private social media content. "I can't believe some people think it's OK to do this,” he said. “Maybe it's OK if you live in a totalitarian regime, but we still have a Constitution to protect us.

Aw, poor little Brad still thinks we have that old outdated dusty Constitution made up by a bunch of old dead white guys.

[1rudeboy]

You present an interesting idea: is it possible to create a Facebook account with a minimal amount of personal information and a maximum amount of privacy (setting) for the sole purpose of giving the middle finger to someone who looks?

[muawiyah]

What that means is that if you ever want a job with NSA, CIA, etc. what you have to do is NOT EVER have a Facebook account.

There are other tricks of course.

Remember the escalator deal ~ don't go up right away ~ wait. Then go up when you have clear command of your personal space.

They like that.

[tomkat]

Your post wasn't addressed to me, but as I'm feeling magnanimous this morning,
here's a contribution toward that account :)

(also provides a partial explanation of the gesture's origin)

[SECURE AMERICA]

In Maryland, job seekers applying to the state’s Department of Corrections have been asked during interviews to log into their accounts and let an interviewer watch while the potential employee clicks through wall posts, friends, photos and anything else that might be found behind the privacy wall.

Yeah like that is going to happen. Sorry you just violated my rights under the US Constitution and now you will pay me for the rest of my life without my actually working!
The only way to deal with these assclowns.......

[muawiyah]

Your typical County Manager should have plenty of pictures of himself with youth groups who came to his office to see what he and his staff really do.

He should have some animal pictures ~ where he's petting the animal. He should also have pictures of himself with swimming teams, swim clubs, and other sorts of clubs with close relationships to the public park systems.

If he doesn't he's hiding something ~ like why he doesn't want to be seen standing there with young men in speedos!

The ones I find most disturbing are where the county manager has NO pictures at all with him with young girls ~ that's a definite guilt trip deal.

Two years ago we had that in Delaware ~ the Democrat's friends at Google.com had obviously cleared the decks of photos with him in them.

[muawiyah]

You apply for some jobs you will get a thorough background check ~ you will have agreed to that at the time you submitted the application. Otherwise you simply will not get the jobs ~ NOT EVER ~ not even with some other country.

[JimRed]

A blatant attempt to root out any applicants with conservative viewpoints for rejection.

[JimRed]

I have a facebook account but I ONLY use it to store photos of my family online, so I dont have to upload or email them to anyone who wants to see them

Doesn't that make it easier for the regime to ID them when they have to round up possible conservatives?