Ridculous. In the past employers didn’t ask “tell me about all the political comments you’ve made over the past few days, how fun going out was on Saturday night, or how handling your 2 year old is going”. Just because its written online now doesn’t make it permissible to find out…
Can employers create Employment Practices liability via inappropriate requests for access to private and non-public personal information?
Kudos to the individual cited in the story for walking out on that interview. How offensive. Were they also going to do a spot inspection of his home and personal effects & papers? How about ask him to hand over his cell phone so they could look at his text messages, call logs, see who is on his contact lists, and look at all his pictures? What’s next?
The individual’s right to privacy in this country is woefully inadequate. Without privacy there is no freedom.
Although it is technically not illegal, I would caution any company who would choose to use this tactic for the reason of being made a million dollar example.
The abuse being made here is that the company is using a grey area to get information about the employee, and as in the past, the danger of this lays with the interpretation of what information they are seekin and why.
If I am a gay male, and I apply for a job that asks me for my facebook account, and on that account it clearly shows I am gay, and then I don’t get the job, I can launch a lawsuit against that company, claiming it is motivated by the fact that I am gay. Now, although this may not be true, there are plenty of lawyers who are looking to make a name for them selves, and the payout on this would be extrodinary. All I would have to do as a lawyer is prove that either the person doing the interview or the department head is or has christian views (since this is something that can be seen on facebook, it wouldn’t be hard to find, and since they started using facebook first, it would be admissable in court).
Here is the most damamging part, not only to the company, but the person who is being singled out in the company. Weather the company was honest in it’s endeavor and didn’t use it to discriminate, the fact remains, the prospect is gay and it is all over their facebook, and the hirer has strong christian views, so this now becomes a very hot topic, guaranteed to raise the hackles of some support group if not all, most likely resulting in a call to boycott said company.
As far as the courts go, it will play out in one of three ways.
1. The courts don’t believe there is enough evidence to prove that it was discrimination, but can’t deny there is a good reason to make it illegal to ask for facebook passwords. The company is still hated by support groups, forced to spend millions of fixing it’s image.
2. The courts agree that there is grounds for discrimination, they award a ridiculous sum of money to be paid out by the company, the company is hit with a human rights violation inside of western boarders, so they can’t ignore the reprecussions, and their reputation is tarnished, forcing them to spend millions to recoop their image.
3. The courts agree with the company, not wrong doing, but the public still views it as suspect and the image of the company is ruined.
In the end, from a PR and Marketing point of view, this is a prime example of how a company can destroy it’s image and possibly never recover. In every scenario, the company has irked the hackels of a rights group, a severe no-no in the PR world, and forced to spend possibly millions in legal fees, and marketing, and for what, to find out if this possible employee is doing something in their personal life that someone may not agree with, even though it is more than a 99.9% chance that it would not have affected that prospects ability to do their job without incedent.
It is invasion of privacy – clear & simple.
Just because the information is more readily availabe thru facebook, etc does not give the employer the right to review it!
In the past, would an employer ask to read your mail, see your personal pictures, ask your social itinerary? NO
I think it’s a horrible EPL exposure for companies to ask for passwords. Getting in to politics, religion and other personal items should stay off the table for job interviews. I can see a potential employer looking up a candidates FB page and looking for general character information, but asking for it is totally different, and asking for a candidates password for ANYTHING is just so very wrong!
It could be a horrible EPL for employers not to ask for passwords. I believe there should be a law to prohibit the practice but until there is one some companies, through fear of litigation, will need to employ this as a defensive practice. Just yesterday I read about a school bus company that was being sued for the actions of an employee (child abuse). He had previously demonstrated, but had not been convicted for that propensity. The suit included a statement that it could have been easily discovered at the time of employment. This says to me that in some sensitive occupations, employers need to use all legal means available to vet a applicant in order to avoid litigation.
I agree completely. But I would point out that, as is demonstrated everyday on these posts, more & more people have become more polarized and less tolerant on their political & religious views because it’s become socially acceptable to do so.
I’m just suprised its taken this long for this issue to surface. Laws on this subject are woefully inadequate and the sad part is it likely won’t get resolved in the next 5-10 years.
If a company were gauche enough to ask that of me, I’d say “Sure, but first, let me have the passwords for your own bank account and that of the company, so that I know you’re solvent and aren’t embezzling! I promise, I will destroy the password just as soon as I’ve looked around to my satisfaction.” When they object and say it’s none of my business, my response would be, “Well, if you don’t think it is my business to be poking around in your private affairs and that of the company, why is it okay for you to poke around in mine?” People may “need” jobs, but nobody needs them THAT much. Besides, it is far to easy to circumvent. All you have to do is set up a “false” FB page and show them that one.
Ages ago…I did something similar. I was interviewing at a place that I really had reservations about. A recruiter had sent me there…and pretty much twisted my arm to even go there.
They had a page on their application packet that was basically a release of liability for their background check process. It was very very broad. SO i left that page off the forms…when they reviewed them (in front of me) I said…”oh, yes I saw that form, but feel it is a bit broad. But, on second thought…I know you are going to check me out…and you know I am going to check you out…I will sign that document if you will provide me with a similar document giving me the same release for my checking you out”. They said no…so I said “then I think we are done, thank you for your time” and packed up and left.
Before I got to my car, my cell was ringing and it was the recruiter saying “well I guess I learned my lesson on trying to twist your arm into interviewing with an agency you did not like”.
Complete invasion of privacy.
Just because more information is available via the internet, does not mean that the employer has a “right” to see it, much less ask for personal data from the employee.
in the past, would an employer ask to see the letters you mailed, the diary’s you wrote in, the list of friends phone #’s?
Of course not.
Criminal background checks, verifying the resume of professional jobs, education fine. That directly relates to the job that the company expects you to perform – nothing else is their business!
Not to mention it is also an invasion of privacy of parties NOT participating in the job application transaction; i.e., the privacy of the “friends” of the prospective job applicant are being invaded. They are not applying for the job, yet they will be scrutinized.
Requesting an employee or prospective employee to sign a non-disparagement agreement is more acceptable.
Oh dear I just hope that our screen names in this website aren’t searchable. Imagine all the dull and boring coversations folks would have if they knew The Boss was ‘looking over their shoulders’.
This is happening in our schools also. I have two teenagers that I have told to create locks on their phones. If any teachers, etc. tell them to unlock the phone I am to be called first. My fb is set to private so that others within my office cannot see what I post unless I choose.
Social networking sites like Facebook include AGE, RELIGION / RELIGIOUS VIEWS (also MARITAL STATUS, CHILDREN). The employers requesting this information are in violation of EEOC laws.
I can understand an employer wanting to take advantage of means to get as much information as possible about a prospective employee, especially in sensitive jobs. As an employer, I would think the liability exposure for getting their private passwords would exceed any information gained through social media that couldn’t be obtained through more traditional methods. Further, any prospective employee worth a damn would have already checked out the employers facebook page, linkedin and twitter and opened up a connection through liking or friending, connection and following.
Criminal checks and resume certification are understandable but even now Society has accepted the “reliability” of a credit check as a determiner of employability. Verifying your persona (and that of your friends and family) on social networks is certainly not far behind. Consider the possibilities: you’d best hope the HR director and all minions are members of your same/similar church,
political persuasion, social clubs, values/morals set… and that they “LIKE” you…
This is voilation of our personal freedom. Asking for your Facebook login and password information is against everything we as a society want in personal freedom. I’m a Manager in a company that hires personnel, and the only information I want or need from Human Resources is job related only. I have told my staff I do not care what you do with your personal life, ans long as you do your job. I am a person who guards his personal life, and I do not want people prying in my private life. What has society come to.
This is a money maker for someone. Get a lawyer primed and ready to go. Do the interview and hope you are asked. Then refuse and suethe jerks. Use the same behavior that people used to push out ADA lawsuits and the like. With that as a potential result for the employer, it wont be long and the tactic will be stopped.
I think people need to work more to BECOME the person they want everything to think they are. Being two faced isnt healthy for anyone. If you’re a ganster thug or troll or pervert on your facebook page, why would you go into a place of employment and pretend that what your facebook portrays isnt really YOU. Too many people are “acting” like they are supposed to when certain people are looking, but in their real lives they are scum. A persons true self does bleed into the workforce to affect everyone else.
There are so many different ways to “hide” during the interview process.
I remember a story told to me by a friend. He was interviewing for a job as a producer and the firm made him take a personality test. He looked at the answers, figured out which ones supported an outgoing and engaging person who didn’t like to get bogged down in the details but was a team player, capable of seeing a project through to completion.
He got the job and couldn’t sell. But he got paid while he looked for a better job, which was his goal anyhow.
It truly is a buyers market where employment is concerned. You have to wonder about the lack of morals it takes for someone in the hiring position to come up with an idea like this. Disgusting!
I have no facebook, don’t twitter, my old cell phone has texting blocked, and is left off except for weekends. If the phone rings at the house and I don’t feel like talking I don’t feel compelled to answer it. My life is very satisfying.
There’s an easy workaround. Set up a twitter or FB account with your own name and post once a week or so. Give THAT to the prospective employer.
Then set up another FB or twitter account with an appropriately esoteric name the employer knows nothing about.
Then they get what they think they want, you get your privacy. If they say “Is that your only account?” you tell them “yes, it is,” and leave it at that.
It SUCKS balls they think they can get away with it, and if we’re lucky, the law propposed to make such a request illegal will make such a workaround unnecessary but until that day comes, it’s on the individuals to be proactive and protect themselves.
Oh by the way – ANY of you employers reading this – shove it up your ass.
I’d turn down the request and say “I’m sorry, I don’t share that information because it would give you access to the private information of my friends and family. I’m not shy about discussing issues with you about me, and I’m happy to try and answer any questions you may have.” You come off as reasonable and open, never a bad thing in an interview, but you still deny them acess.
Ridculous. In the past employers didn’t ask “tell me about all the political comments you’ve made over the past few days, how fun going out was on Saturday night, or how handling your 2 year old is going”. Just because its written online now doesn’t make it permissible to find out…
Can employers create Employment Practices liability via inappropriate requests for access to private and non-public personal information?
Kudos to the individual cited in the story for walking out on that interview. How offensive. Were they also going to do a spot inspection of his home and personal effects & papers? How about ask him to hand over his cell phone so they could look at his text messages, call logs, see who is on his contact lists, and look at all his pictures? What’s next?
The individual’s right to privacy in this country is woefully inadequate. Without privacy there is no freedom.
According to Rick Santorom there is no Constituional right to privacy. In other words no right to privacy at all. Go Rick.
Although it is technically not illegal, I would caution any company who would choose to use this tactic for the reason of being made a million dollar example.
The abuse being made here is that the company is using a grey area to get information about the employee, and as in the past, the danger of this lays with the interpretation of what information they are seekin and why.
If I am a gay male, and I apply for a job that asks me for my facebook account, and on that account it clearly shows I am gay, and then I don’t get the job, I can launch a lawsuit against that company, claiming it is motivated by the fact that I am gay. Now, although this may not be true, there are plenty of lawyers who are looking to make a name for them selves, and the payout on this would be extrodinary. All I would have to do as a lawyer is prove that either the person doing the interview or the department head is or has christian views (since this is something that can be seen on facebook, it wouldn’t be hard to find, and since they started using facebook first, it would be admissable in court).
Here is the most damamging part, not only to the company, but the person who is being singled out in the company. Weather the company was honest in it’s endeavor and didn’t use it to discriminate, the fact remains, the prospect is gay and it is all over their facebook, and the hirer has strong christian views, so this now becomes a very hot topic, guaranteed to raise the hackles of some support group if not all, most likely resulting in a call to boycott said company.
As far as the courts go, it will play out in one of three ways.
1. The courts don’t believe there is enough evidence to prove that it was discrimination, but can’t deny there is a good reason to make it illegal to ask for facebook passwords. The company is still hated by support groups, forced to spend millions of fixing it’s image.
2. The courts agree that there is grounds for discrimination, they award a ridiculous sum of money to be paid out by the company, the company is hit with a human rights violation inside of western boarders, so they can’t ignore the reprecussions, and their reputation is tarnished, forcing them to spend millions to recoop their image.
3. The courts agree with the company, not wrong doing, but the public still views it as suspect and the image of the company is ruined.
In the end, from a PR and Marketing point of view, this is a prime example of how a company can destroy it’s image and possibly never recover. In every scenario, the company has irked the hackels of a rights group, a severe no-no in the PR world, and forced to spend possibly millions in legal fees, and marketing, and for what, to find out if this possible employee is doing something in their personal life that someone may not agree with, even though it is more than a 99.9% chance that it would not have affected that prospects ability to do their job without incedent.
It is invasion of privacy – clear & simple.
Just because the information is more readily availabe thru facebook, etc does not give the employer the right to review it!
In the past, would an employer ask to read your mail, see your personal pictures, ask your social itinerary? NO
I think it’s a horrible EPL exposure for companies to ask for passwords. Getting in to politics, religion and other personal items should stay off the table for job interviews. I can see a potential employer looking up a candidates FB page and looking for general character information, but asking for it is totally different, and asking for a candidates password for ANYTHING is just so very wrong!
It could be a horrible EPL for employers not to ask for passwords. I believe there should be a law to prohibit the practice but until there is one some companies, through fear of litigation, will need to employ this as a defensive practice. Just yesterday I read about a school bus company that was being sued for the actions of an employee (child abuse). He had previously demonstrated, but had not been convicted for that propensity. The suit included a statement that it could have been easily discovered at the time of employment. This says to me that in some sensitive occupations, employers need to use all legal means available to vet a applicant in order to avoid litigation.
I agree completely. But I would point out that, as is demonstrated everyday on these posts, more & more people have become more polarized and less tolerant on their political & religious views because it’s become socially acceptable to do so.
I’m just suprised its taken this long for this issue to surface. Laws on this subject are woefully inadequate and the sad part is it likely won’t get resolved in the next 5-10 years.
If a company were gauche enough to ask that of me, I’d say “Sure, but first, let me have the passwords for your own bank account and that of the company, so that I know you’re solvent and aren’t embezzling! I promise, I will destroy the password just as soon as I’ve looked around to my satisfaction.” When they object and say it’s none of my business, my response would be, “Well, if you don’t think it is my business to be poking around in your private affairs and that of the company, why is it okay for you to poke around in mine?” People may “need” jobs, but nobody needs them THAT much. Besides, it is far to easy to circumvent. All you have to do is set up a “false” FB page and show them that one.
Brilliant Pyro! Dual accounts. One account for employment and one is your real account. Problem solved!
BRILLIANT RESPONSE!!! BRAVO!!!
Bravo dude! Brilliant response!
Ages ago…I did something similar. I was interviewing at a place that I really had reservations about. A recruiter had sent me there…and pretty much twisted my arm to even go there.
They had a page on their application packet that was basically a release of liability for their background check process. It was very very broad. SO i left that page off the forms…when they reviewed them (in front of me) I said…”oh, yes I saw that form, but feel it is a bit broad. But, on second thought…I know you are going to check me out…and you know I am going to check you out…I will sign that document if you will provide me with a similar document giving me the same release for my checking you out”. They said no…so I said “then I think we are done, thank you for your time” and packed up and left.
Before I got to my car, my cell was ringing and it was the recruiter saying “well I guess I learned my lesson on trying to twist your arm into interviewing with an agency you did not like”.
Complete invasion of privacy.
Just because more information is available via the internet, does not mean that the employer has a “right” to see it, much less ask for personal data from the employee.
in the past, would an employer ask to see the letters you mailed, the diary’s you wrote in, the list of friends phone #’s?
Of course not.
Criminal background checks, verifying the resume of professional jobs, education fine. That directly relates to the job that the company expects you to perform – nothing else is their business!
Privacey? The NSA is building a billion dollar listening post in Utah. Your FB account is the least of our worries….
Not to mention it is also an invasion of privacy of parties NOT participating in the job application transaction; i.e., the privacy of the “friends” of the prospective job applicant are being invaded. They are not applying for the job, yet they will be scrutinized.
Requesting an employee or prospective employee to sign a non-disparagement agreement is more acceptable.
Oh dear I just hope that our screen names in this website aren’t searchable. Imagine all the dull and boring coversations folks would have if they knew The Boss was ‘looking over their shoulders’.
This is happening in our schools also. I have two teenagers that I have told to create locks on their phones. If any teachers, etc. tell them to unlock the phone I am to be called first. My fb is set to private so that others within my office cannot see what I post unless I choose.
Social networking sites like Facebook include AGE, RELIGION / RELIGIOUS VIEWS (also MARITAL STATUS, CHILDREN). The employers requesting this information are in violation of EEOC laws.
I can understand an employer wanting to take advantage of means to get as much information as possible about a prospective employee, especially in sensitive jobs. As an employer, I would think the liability exposure for getting their private passwords would exceed any information gained through social media that couldn’t be obtained through more traditional methods. Further, any prospective employee worth a damn would have already checked out the employers facebook page, linkedin and twitter and opened up a connection through liking or friending, connection and following.
Criminal checks and resume certification are understandable but even now Society has accepted the “reliability” of a credit check as a determiner of employability. Verifying your persona (and that of your friends and family) on social networks is certainly not far behind. Consider the possibilities: you’d best hope the HR director and all minions are members of your same/similar church,
political persuasion, social clubs, values/morals set… and that they “LIKE” you…
This is voilation of our personal freedom. Asking for your Facebook login and password information is against everything we as a society want in personal freedom. I’m a Manager in a company that hires personnel, and the only information I want or need from Human Resources is job related only. I have told my staff I do not care what you do with your personal life, ans long as you do your job. I am a person who guards his personal life, and I do not want people prying in my private life. What has society come to.
This is a money maker for someone. Get a lawyer primed and ready to go. Do the interview and hope you are asked. Then refuse and suethe jerks. Use the same behavior that people used to push out ADA lawsuits and the like. With that as a potential result for the employer, it wont be long and the tactic will be stopped.
I would give it to them right after they gave me their checking account number and routing number; trust is a two way street!
I think people need to work more to BECOME the person they want everything to think they are. Being two faced isnt healthy for anyone. If you’re a ganster thug or troll or pervert on your facebook page, why would you go into a place of employment and pretend that what your facebook portrays isnt really YOU. Too many people are “acting” like they are supposed to when certain people are looking, but in their real lives they are scum. A persons true self does bleed into the workforce to affect everyone else.
There are so many different ways to “hide” during the interview process.
I remember a story told to me by a friend. He was interviewing for a job as a producer and the firm made him take a personality test. He looked at the answers, figured out which ones supported an outgoing and engaging person who didn’t like to get bogged down in the details but was a team player, capable of seeing a project through to completion.
He got the job and couldn’t sell. But he got paid while he looked for a better job, which was his goal anyhow.
Sharing your company password can be grounds for termination but disclosing your personal password is OK for hiring purposes?
It truly is a buyers market where employment is concerned. You have to wonder about the lack of morals it takes for someone in the hiring position to come up with an idea like this. Disgusting!
I would have walked out too. And I don’t even have a FB account.
I have no facebook, don’t twitter, my old cell phone has texting blocked, and is left off except for weekends. If the phone rings at the house and I don’t feel like talking I don’t feel compelled to answer it. My life is very satisfying.
There’s an easy workaround. Set up a twitter or FB account with your own name and post once a week or so. Give THAT to the prospective employer.
Then set up another FB or twitter account with an appropriately esoteric name the employer knows nothing about.
Then they get what they think they want, you get your privacy. If they say “Is that your only account?” you tell them “yes, it is,” and leave it at that.
It SUCKS balls they think they can get away with it, and if we’re lucky, the law propposed to make such a request illegal will make such a workaround unnecessary but until that day comes, it’s on the individuals to be proactive and protect themselves.
Oh by the way – ANY of you employers reading this – shove it up your ass.
Hey! I just tried that and was sent to some smutty porn site… Thanks for the lead!
Personally, I feel employers asking for login and passwords on social networking sites, is akin to them asking to paw through my underwear drawer.
I’d turn down the request and say “I’m sorry, I don’t share that information because it would give you access to the private information of my friends and family. I’m not shy about discussing issues with you about me, and I’m happy to try and answer any questions you may have.” You come off as reasonable and open, never a bad thing in an interview, but you still deny them acess.