Posted on 02/21/2011 3:50:37 PM PST by FromLori
The American Civil Liberties Union has taken up the cause of a Maryland man who was forced to cough up his Facebook password during a job interview with the Department of Corrections in that state.
According to an ACLU letter sent to the Maryland Department of Corrections, the organization requires that new applicants and those applying for recertifications give the government "their social media account usernames and personal passwords for use in employee background checks."
The ACLU calls this policy "a frightening and illegal invasion of privacy" and I can't say that I disagree. Keep in mind that this isn't looking at what you've posted to a public Twitter account; the government agency here could look through private Facebook messages, which seems a lot like reading through your mail, paper or digital.
While it's not surprising that some employers might want to snoop in your social media life, it strikes me as a remarkable misapprehension of what Facebook is to think that it should be wholly open for background investigations. Legally, things are probably more complex, but it seems commonsensical that carte blanche access to your communications should be off-limits.
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
Just create a “work” facebook account that is clean and squeeky.
“the organization requires that new applicants and those applying for recertifications give the government “their social media account usernames and personal passwords for use in employee background checks.” “
This sounds way over the top. I would not even consider such a request.
Yes, they should be allowed to ask.
And I should be allowed to respond with, “What is this thing that you call facebook?”
Best would be to stay away from facebook.
ACLU gets one right. They should have no more right to do this than go through your house, mail, and banking accounts.
This stuff needs to be illegal bigtime.
Best would be to stay away from facebook and Twitter and My Space and all the other trash sites.
If anyone coughs up their password is an idiot.
I agree and I don’t even use Facebook lol.
But the reason I posted it is you know teens may put something on and not phrase it properly so it could be taken out of context or if someone has a personal problem say for example with your political belief’s that could be a real problem. I thought parents might want to be forewarned that this could happen.
I’ll give them a face book password. It may be painful but it is what it is.
I’m not on facebook. FR handles all my online needs.
Exactly. Great answer.
From the movie: The Hangover:
Doctor: “Ya, I know where that place is, it's on the corner of: Get A Map and Go F-— Yourself...”
A password sorta like that?
If you want the job then you put up with the clearance. An awful lot of bangers and hangers-on tell their stories on FB through their list of friends and posted pictures. These are not the people you want working the yard. I say good looking out by the Dept of Corrections.
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That is what my kids’ high school counselors told the kids to do. Have 2 accounts.
This is not really a difficult question.
Since there is no such thing as a right to a job, then the employer is free to ask, and the employee/candidate is free to say “no” and look for a different job.
Geez, Facebook will give anybody your data anyway.
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