Saturday, March 24, 2012

Employers who want your Facebook passwork

I haven't had to interview for a new job in the past few years, but apparently there is a recent trend where prospective employers are asking for Facebook passwords during interviews.  I would hope that most people would tell them to stick it where the sun doesn't shine, but the reality in many cases is that the job seeker really needs a job and can't afford to take a hard stance on privacy.

The Captain wrote about this the other day which is what brought it to my attention.

He linked to this AP article which talked about the recent trend. (BTW, what "steadily improving job market" are they talking about?)

 So here's a suggestion from Nancy P via Clarissa's Blog that I pirated because it is so excellent.
I will consider your request when you have gathered original copies of privacy releases from the “friends” and from any others who may have been seen in a photo on my private Facebook page. I also require you to obtain from Facebook’s general counsel a specifically worded consent for you to access my private Facebook page via password. The action of giving a password to some person other than the registered user is considered a violation of terms of service, and may be illegal. Furthermore, I suspect that you would like to prevent your company from being banned or sued by Facebook. Lawyers in most civil suits take a scattershot method of naming defendents, and any sloppiness on your part in obtaining all consents from “friends” and any people present in photos on the private site may expose you to lawsuits from these individuals, and possibly lawsuits by Facebook corporate defendant in any countersuit. Needless to say, I would be a target of all lawsuits as well, but generally plaintiffs’ lawyers pursue corporate deep pockets, and individuals with relatively few assets are assigned minimal responsibility.

Not only is this an excellent response that covers you with the employer, but there is no way they get everything needed to comply.

Thanks to the Captain, Nancy, and Clarissa for this tidbit.  Good to have quality bloggers out there that I can pirate to keep my few readers (and myself mostly) entertained and informed.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

"I don't have one" is also an acceptable answer.

But actually, I think that the story is fabricated by someone who is used to fabricating stories (freelance writer for a magazine), based on nothing more than rumors. The only people who would possibly care what is on your facebook are women in HR who have nothing to do all day but look at facebook. There is no company interest in what can be found there.

heresolong said...

That is a possibility that I had not considered.

Anonymous said...

The "give away" for me was when she walked out on a good job that presumably she wanted, in a down economy when good jobs are hard to get, to preserve her privacy. When people write about themselves, they tend to put themselves in a morally superior position where the "sacrifice everything to do what is right". This also works when their "zingers" are really good. Most people don't think of really good zingers until later, when it no longer matters. But in fiction, all the come-backs are witty and timely.

I heard a story on the radio this morning where some black woman was telling a story about how her dad was harassed by a policeman in Alabama several decades ago. The first thought I had was, "FAKE". It was just too convenient that she had a story that fit the narrative she wanted to tell. That the story would have been "credible" in the 50's, but she was a child of the 80's.

Captain Capitalism said...

My condolences for you being a Harley Mechanic. I mean, nuclear engineering by comparison is cake. But to change the oil on a Harley. Wow! I mean, that takes some serious skill, patience and life expectancy.

;)

Cpt