View Full Version : Connecticut Senator Says Facebook Passwords Should Not Be Sought By Employers
mookiemookie
03-23-12, 08:19 AM
A Democratic senator from Connecticut is writing a bill that would stop the practice of employers asking job applicants for their Facebook or other social media passwords, he told The Associated Press on Thursday.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal said that such a practice is an "unreasonable invasion of privacy for people seeking work."
"These practices seem to be spreading, which is why federal law ought to address them. They go beyond the borders of individual states and call for a national solution," said Blumenthal, who first spoke to Politico on Wednesday.
The AP reported this week that some private and public agencies around the country are asking job seekers for their social media credentials. The practice has alarmed privacy advocates, but the legality of it remains murky.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/22/richard-blumenthal-facebook-passwords_n_1373945.html
I'm all for this. People have a private life for a reason.
However I think that if the Justice Department would actually enforce the law instead of letting it slide, like they mention in the article, this practice would go away. But however it gets done is good.
stoppro
03-23-12, 10:56 AM
why would you even tell an employer you had a face book account? Is it required now? I have never been asked in all my job searches.
Isn't that the senator who tried to claim he was a vietnam vet?
GoldenRivet
03-23-12, 11:09 AM
why would you even tell an employer you had a face book account? Is it required now? I have never been asked in all my job searches.
I've not encountered this either but according to several sources it is a growing trend.
EDIT: I've read about employers asking for passwords OR requiring the prospective employee to add a "friend" from the personnel or HR dept so they can snoop around.
Herr-Berbunch
03-23-12, 11:19 AM
A few years ago a colleague of the wife got called in to HR to discuss a criminal conviction that he hadn't declared. :stare:
"What conviction?" he asked. :oops:
"It says on Facebook you've been fined £574, that means you must have been convicted. What was it for?" :stare:
:har: "You daft [insert expletive of choice], it's just a bit of fun on Facebook totting-up things like 'had sex in parents' bed' or 'been skinny dipping'.
Not that I've done those, obviously :roll: but they'll do for illustrative purposes. People need a private life.
Betonov
03-23-12, 12:02 PM
That's why my FB account is nowhere near my real personality.
Who would guess that a guy named Garmin and was born in Fiji would be me :O:
Buddahaid
03-23-12, 12:15 PM
That's the reason I eschew social media.
Schroeder
03-23-12, 12:26 PM
What is Facebook?:o
mookiemookie
03-23-12, 12:38 PM
That's why my FB account is nowhere near my real personality.
Who would guess that a guy named Garmin and was born in Fiji would be me :O:
That's the reason I eschew social media.
And then the interviewer thinks "Antisocial? Something to hide? Not keeping up with modern times?" and they go with the guy willing to give up his password.
kraznyi_oktjabr
03-23-12, 12:41 PM
What is Facebook?:oThat thing where police puts your mug shots. Chief of Police's personal recognition manual on local crooks.
:O:
Platapus
03-23-12, 12:46 PM
There is talk (thankfully just talk at this point) that in the future, for security clearances, an applicant will have to disclose all online personas (just user names, not passwords).
Asking for passwords is completely unreasonable though.
Penguin
03-23-12, 02:40 PM
If I was an employer, I'd ask the same question.
If the candidate would comply with my wish, I'd tell him to get lost! :x
Would you really trust someone with your company secrets who is willing to give away his right of privacy in a job interview? If they tell anything even without financial compansation, only because of a prospect for a job, you could probably buy Coca Cola's recipe from them for a bubble gum.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/digital-culture/social-networking/is-it-ok-for-a-job-interviewer-to-ask-for-your-facebook-login/article2374963/
mookiemookie
03-23-12, 03:42 PM
Now Facebook's weighing in on the issue, saying they may sue firms who request passwords:
http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2012/03/facebook-says-it-may-sue-employers-who-demand-job-applicants-passwords.ars
Facebook's a scumbag company, but it's good to see them do something in their user's best interests for once.
Can I have access to the company's financial system first to make sure my pay for next year is secured?
This is just absurd!
Takeda Shingen
03-23-12, 04:09 PM
Can I have access to the company's financial system first to make sure my pay for next year is secured?
:haha:
I was thinking along those lines as well. If we want full, and I mean full disclosure, then let's have full disclosure.
Recently one of my former students posted this on his facebook wall:
"Sometimes I only reason I get up in the morning is to get stoned".
Now while I share the concerns of folks here about the constant erosion of privacy in modern society I can't really blame an employer for wanting to know these things.
Stealhead
03-23-12, 06:23 PM
Recently one of my former students posted this on his facebook wall:
"Sometimes I only reason I get up in the morning is to get stoned".
Now while I share the concerns of folks here about the constant erosion of privacy in modern society I can't really blame an employer for wanting to know these things.
How does one know that he is being serious or is his joking around.:hmmm:
Maybe he is making a reference to the stresses of daily life in a joking manner and means get stoned by someone (a stoning,stones thrown at him figuratively speaking).
He would have to have some more obvious 4:20 and have a picture of him with a spliff or a bag of weed in his profile for me to verify that he is a pot head and there are plenty of
dummies doing that.
Besides why do they need to gain passwords most people use 12345 anyway.
Takeda Shingen
03-23-12, 06:37 PM
Besides why do they need to gain passwords most people use 12345 anyway.
Crap. Time to change my forum password.
He would have to have some more obvious 4:20 and have a picture of him with a spliff or a bag of weed in his profile for me to verify that he is a pot head and there are plenty of dummies doing that.
Well I think if you ever met this kid Stealhead it would be pretty obvious that he was being serious. :) I used to have to go wake him up after lunch each day because he'd be zonked out from partying all night. More than once the smell that rushes out when he opened the door brought me back to the 1970's!
Besides it's not so much the drug use, although that is unacceptable too it's the lack of discretion. The way an employer would see it is if he's stupid enough to post something like that online, open to all i might add - no friendship or password needed, then he's probably also stupid enough to say something like it in front of a customer.
These Communications industries send their employees into peoples homes, they work in hospitals and pharmacies and airports. Such talk, even if joking, could cause the company big headaches if the wrong person heard it. At very least it could mean lost accounts. Customers, especially commercial ones, have no problem dropping vendors because one of their employees said something stupid like that.
Platapus
03-23-12, 08:32 PM
We had a discussion about this at work. It is becoming more common for potential employers to "google" prospective employees. As social networks become more popular, how soon do you think it will take before NOT having an internet presence can count against you?
Just like today if you ran across someone who did not have a phone (cell or land line) you might be a bit surprised. Or how about E-mail? I know I am a bit surprised when I meet people who have no E-mail accounts.
How soon will it take before people will just assume that you are hiding something if you don't have an overt Internet social network presence?
Could this happen within say 10 years?
mookiemookie
03-23-12, 08:34 PM
How soon will it take before people will just assume that you are hiding something if you don't have an overt Internet social network presence?
Could this happen within say 10 years?
I'd say it's happening now. If I were interviewing someone under the age of 40 and they didn't have some form of social network account, I'd be suspicious.
TFatseas
03-23-12, 09:49 PM
I'd say it's happening now. If I were interviewing someone under the age of 40 and they didn't have some form of social network account, I'd be suspicious.
Well, I'm screwed then.:hmmm:
Don't do the social networking stuff, nor have an interest in pursuing it.
Heck, I use my phone to TALK on, not text. It's like a lost art with my generation.
We had a discussion about this at work. It is becoming more common for potential employers to "google" prospective employees. As social networks become more popular, how soon do you think it will take before NOT having an internet presence can count against you?
Just like today if you ran across someone who did not have a phone (cell or land line) you might be a bit surprised. Or how about E-mail? I know I am a bit surprised when I meet people who have no E-mail accounts.
How soon will it take before people will just assume that you are hiding something if you don't have an overt Internet social network presence?
Could this happen within say 10 years?
I would say it's already happening. Unless you are of a certain age claims of not having a facebook account is likely to be seen by an employer as trying to hide something.
TFatseas
03-23-12, 11:58 PM
Huh
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/03/23/tech/social-media/facebook-employers/index.html
(CNN) -- Facebook has weighed in on a practice by some businesses asking employees or job applicants for their passwords to the popular social-media site.
In a nutshell? Facebook says don't do it unless you want to get sued.
Rest at link.
Sailor Steve
03-24-12, 12:53 PM
I like FaceBook. It keeps me in touch with my kids, and with my actual friends (as opposed to network friends).
Give someone my password? I'll give them a word alright. Maybe some combinations of words.
antikristuseke
03-24-12, 01:06 PM
I'd give them an entire list of words in several languages.
No Facebook account here either, if I need to talk to my 3 kids or to the grandkids, emails work fine or I actually use a phone.:DL
Since I'm over 60, am I excused for not having one?;)
TLAM Strike
03-24-12, 02:59 PM
Besides why do they need to gain passwords most people use 12345 anyway.
Crap. Time to change my forum password.
Tak are you really the president of Syria?
http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/5852/jobfailstheschwartzwasn.png
:hmmm:
:haha:
soopaman2
03-24-12, 03:51 PM
My wife had to sign a form at her job stating she would not talk bad about the company on social media.
I won't say the name, but will say they are a multinational corporation with interests in Europe, UK, and America.
She was appalled by it. I gave her the cynical George Orwell, "I told ya so", I usually give with stuff like this.
So if this guy gets his way, how can he regulate a corp. based in the Netherlands, or even worse China?
Big Corps will tell our government to go play with ourselves....And they will. No matter how much mock outrage.
This is election year bullcrap.
Platapus
03-24-12, 08:19 PM
My wife had to sign a form at her job stating she would not talk bad about the company on social media.
.
Sad that the employer thought this was necessary. I was brought up not to bite the hand that feeds you or to translate in this context: Bon't badmouth the people that are paying you money that allows you to feed your family. :yep:. It is not very professional.
I guess people are not brought up that way any more. :shifty:
soopaman2
03-25-12, 07:04 PM
Sad that the employer thought this was necessary. I was brought up not to bite the hand that feeds you or to translate in this context: Bon't badmouth the people that are paying you money that allows you to feed your family. :yep:. It is not very professional.
I guess people are not brought up that way any more. :shifty:
Are you implying something? It sure sounds like you are.
My wife does not even have a facebook or twitter account, this was done company-wide.
My wife does not badmouth her company in public, nor feels any need to, she just felt betrayed after given years of trust, considering she is in a managment position. Assume all are disloyal, is the vibe she caught from it.
I am offended by your assumptions.:shifty::down:
And I am really restraining myself.
mookiemookie
03-25-12, 07:16 PM
Are you implying something? It sure sounds like you are.
My wife does not even have a facebook or twitter account, this was done company-wide.
My wife does not badmouth her company in public, nor feels any need to, she just felt betrayed after given years of trust, considering she is in a managment position. Assume all are disloyal, is the vibe she caught from it.
I am offended by your assumptions.:shifty::down:
And I am really restraining myself.
I don't think he was implying that it was your wife specifically. I think he was talking more in general terms. At least that's the way I took it.
Platapus
03-25-12, 07:31 PM
Two U.S. senators will ask the Justice Department to investigate whether employers who require job applicants to hand over confidential passwords to Facebook and other social networking sites are violating federal law, the lawmakers said today.
New York Senator Charles Schumer, the Senate’s third- ranking Democrat, and Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, will ask the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to examine the practice as well.
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/world/53787961-68/facebook-ask-job-practice.html.csp
That's good news anyway. I can not see any justification for requiring the surrender of passwords. The employer is free to access the public side of anyone's facebook and make hiring/firing decisions based on this information in a Right to Work State. But asking for passwords makes no sense.
I am glad that Justice and EEOC are being asked to look into this. I hope the individual states follow suit.
soopaman2
03-25-12, 07:37 PM
I don't think he was implying that it was your wife specifically. I think he was talking more in general terms. At least that's the way I took it.
Thats cool, I just do not want my old lady lumped in with the "social hens" , who feel a need to tweet when they are taking a dump. If I jumped unfairly then I am sorry, if I didn't, then well...
Just me being me:DL
Though this is more about intrusion of privacy. The government can't even access passcodes without some kind of good legal reasons, why do corporations get carte blanche to do what our government cannot?
Because they own our govern.....*gunshot*
mookiemookie
03-25-12, 10:42 PM
It's a very simple answer if you're ever asked to hand over your personal passwords. Tell them you won't hand them over unless the interviewer hands over the password to the company network. I mean you have to have access to all of those trade secrets and confidential data to see what kind of company it is that you'd be working for, right?
Platapus
03-26-12, 06:23 PM
North Virginia is a "Right to work" state. I remember when I was hired by my first company, I had to sign an agreement acknowledging that while the company could fire me at any time, I was required to give the company 2 weeks notice.
Nice to see fairness and equality in an employment contract. :shifty:
MothBalls
03-26-12, 08:21 PM
No facebook, twitter, myspace, nothing, ever. Never had and never will. I keep up with friends by doing things with them, talking to them on the phone, and the occasional email with a picture or a joke. A few years back had a client ask me to get on Linkedin and I refused.
My "persona" here on Subsim is about as public as it gets. I was trying to get the name "Mothballed" but it was taken, so mothballs was close enough. Aside from videos games and the occasional forum visit, I try to stay offline. SO much data mining going on. If someone wants to know something about me they can ask me.
North Virginia is a "Right to work" state. I remember when I was hired by my first company, I had to sign an agreement acknowledging that while the company could fire me at any time, I was required to give the company 2 weeks notice.
Nice to see fairness and equality in an employment contract. :shifty:
Y'know they asked me to agree to the same thing, a month after being hired. My question then as now is "or what"? I've never really gotten a satisfactory answer.
mookiemookie
03-26-12, 10:00 PM
Y'know they asked me to agree to the same thing, a month after being hired. My question then as now is "or what"? I've never really gotten a satisfactory answer.
Heh...good one!
I was laid off in 2005 and they gave me three months of severance pay. I had to come in and train someone else to be my replacement though. I figured they kind of had me over a barrel on that one as they could have said "ok, you don't come in, we cut off your severance."
They had to call me and call me but I finally came in for about an hour and begrudgingly gave the most halfassed training session possible. Jackasses. :nope:
CaptainHaplo
03-26-12, 10:01 PM
WOW! Platypus, Mookie, August and I all agree on this issue.
Is it December 2012 already????
I can understand the desire of a company HR person to check out the candidate fully - after all, if your a bank and your prospect has a bunch of pictures of himself at a casino with captions complaining of how he just lost his shirt, it could indicate that he might not be the best to control money unsupervised. Someone always posting how drunk they are may not be the best person to run the liquor store. It goes to the desire to get more insight regarding the person's character.
However, while I understand the desire - that doesn't make it right or ethical. Do I have a problem with the question being asked? Not really. The problem is one of legality. Is it discrimination to refuse to consider an applicant that refuses to provide such data? The real legal question is that if someone posts something on the interwebz, is it considered private? I mean, the net isn't exactly a private place by its nature.
Remember - sites like facebook didn't always have "privacy settings" - if you posted it - it was "out there". If you post and use privacy settings, your abrogating (aka trusting another party) the responsibility to make sure such data you want hidden really is. As most such sites are not service providers for pay, can a "consumer" claim a right to privacy has been breached? I could go on and on regarding the legal quagmire.
Its wrong, its unethical if its a condition of consideration - but its not illegal for them to ask. They still should not do so. On that I think we can all agree.
Platapus
03-27-12, 06:43 PM
Y'know they asked me to agree to the same thing, a month after being hired. My question then as now is "or what"? I've never really gotten a satisfactory answer.
Since it is not legally enforceable, I had no problems signing it.
What are they going to do, not give me severance pay if I quit. :har:
Penguin
05-02-13, 03:51 PM
*bump*
Another victory for corporate America:
IL Follows Suit: Employers Right To Ask For Social Media Passwords Codified Into Law (http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130423/06214822806/il-follows-suit-employers-right-to-ask-social-media-passwords-codified-into-law.shtml)
This is beyond ridiculous: it is illegal for an employer in the US to ask about a candidate's religion (rightly so), but asking for information which could contain much more intimate details is ok? :nope:
Another big legal problem I see there, is that the employer could obtain private details about third parties who sent infos meant only for the eyes of the job candidate.
Jimbuna
05-02-13, 04:03 PM
*bump* indeed
Ducimus
05-02-13, 04:30 PM
That's the reason I eschew social media.
Ditto. I don't do facebook or anything like it.
And then the interviewer thinks "Antisocial? Something to hide? Not keeping up with modern times?" and they go with the guy willing to give up his password.
And my response would be, "No sir, I don't have a facebook account. I've worked in the internet security field for 13 years, and in my professional opinion, posting real world personal information about oneself on the internet, is not the wisest of choices one could make."
Wolferz
05-02-13, 06:26 PM
I have a FB account but scrubbed out any personal data.
My youngest brother posted all kinds of personal photos of me on his album and last I spoke with him, I asked him to remove them all.
SHTAKO! I better go check and see if he did.
. Instead of a picture of me on my homepage, there is an Imperial storm trooper using an ATM.
If a prospective employer would ask about it, my reply would be...
"All us clones look the same." Password? Go fish. It's against the FB TOS to give out that information and I refuse to expose myself to litigation. Unless of course you're going to promise me a job making what the CMFIC is making. I'll take that in writing please. Notarized.:up:
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