Job interviewers asking for facebook passwords

Why not?

Is someone is fool enough to post all their sins for the world to see, why shouldn't potential employers see them, too?

If someone spent their work hours on line complaining about their former employer, I wouldn't want to hire them to do the same thing to me on MY dime.

If someone brags about their personal time activities that will impact their working hours, I want to know about it, if they are crazy enough tell anyone in a public arena.

Potential employees are expected to provide references, if they want a job. What better "reference" than their own words about themselves?

 

It's a terrible thing. Privacy used to mean something in this country. Ironically some will defend the indefensible action of murdering the unborn for privacy but allow managerial thugs to invade our sacred, quiet places.

 

I expect the privacy issue here will be decided by the courts. That being said I am not sure it is indefensible to say that a posting on the Internet, a decidedly world-wide public instrument, can be considered private.

Tell you kids and all the kids you know to be very careful what they post as it may have great impact on the rest of their lives. A big problem is that teenagers brains do not allow them to seriously consider the impact that current actions have long term. Long-term to teenagers means next week.

 

The legal precedent is in place and hardly will be overturned. From what I recall of my jurisprudence and business law classes, as well as HR classes, from my undergraduate there is plenty of laws in place about asking illegal questions in an interview. You can't ask someone if their happily married, ever been divorced, pregnant, are religious, and a bunch of other questions. This will, hopefully, be another one of them.

 

What facebook page? Good luck with finding mine. It's totally private so that I can't be searched for. So when they can prove that I have one, I'll open it up and let 'em look. But I'm not giving anyone my password. That's like giving them permission to speak for me on my page. Why would I do that??

If they want to see it, fine, but giving them my password would be like giving them my house key and not expecting them to come eat my groceries and watch my tv. They can forget it! It's not happening even if I had to shut my page down entirely.

 

I wonder if they'd believe it if someone told them they don't have facebook? How would they handle that? Assuming here, I'd say they wouldn't believe the person, and would consider them lying, and the person wouldn't get the job.

 

My husband doesn't have a facebook. He has some rather unpleasant things to say about the effect of facebook on society in general and workplace ethics specifically. (esp the amount of employer time employees spend there!) So I'm guessing an employer with a brain in their head would be able to tell if an applicant were being truthful or not.

Personally, were I asked the question, I'd say just what I said above. When you find my facebook page you can have access, but you aren't getting my password. if I didn't get the job, I didn't need that particular position.

 

I have nothing to hide, but my facebook is reserved for friends and family, which they are neither. My response would be once they hired me and I got to be their friends, I would add them at that time. NEVER would they get my password. I think if I were ever asked this in an interview I would seek legal action.

What's next, they will invite themselves over for dinner with my family or ask to hang out with me and my friends? It's over the top.

 

So if they asked about if you were on facebook, you'd say "What facebook page?" LOL! J/K. I don't think you'd lie, but in reality I don't think it's any of their business either.

Of all the drama, problems, issues, crime, and now this involving a 'social site' I'm glad we have made a decision not to be on there. It also may make it a little easier to tell the kids we don't want them on there when we're not on there ourselves. They don't need peer pressure 24/7, they need family time, something that is missed in many families when kids are logged in and staring at their page.

 

You right wing Repubs should be pleased. It's a free country. People are free to post. Employers are free to not hire. It's a Republican win-win.

 

Pure ignorance.

 

I actually agree with billwald .

Employers are free to ask for the password. Prospective employees are free to refuse.

 

I guess it should be legal to ask to see you naked as well.

 

I'm pretty sure it is already.

 

No wonder you agree with billwald.

 

That's my point, exactly.

What's my expectation of privacy if I'm doing something I shouldn't in a car parked on a public street? Even if the windows are rolled up and the door is locked.

What's my expectation of privacy if the place I'm keeping my "private information" has been sued, more than once, for violations of privacy? Use your favorite search engine (faces the same suits on privacy) with these keywords: facebook privacy law suits -- to see for yourself.

What's my expectation of privacy, if I put my trash beside the street, for garbage pickup?

What's my expectation of privacy, when Homeland Security is tracking Internet activity? When hackers frequently steal what is considered to be the most secure on-line data most folks own -- their credit card numbers?

For the record, I do not have a Facebook account. Nor do I intend to obtain one. To keep up with friends and family (the most often stated reason for using Facebook) can still be done with letters, email, telephone, and yes, even going to visit with them from time to time.

Personally, I'd rather spend a half hour on the phone with my sister (doesn't live close enough for frequent visits) than spending the same amount of time at a keyboard "talking" about the same things.

 

Well, I use fb to keep up with people that would be difficult to keep up with otherwise, such as my brother and sis in law in Alaska (middle of no where Alaska) and friends that are out of the country. And I watch carefully fb's tricks of changing security that leaves my page open to the public. And my avatar there is almost the same as my avatar here. I don't put things up that I don't want public. But even so, yes:

I would ask them "What fb account?" I'd want to know where they got the idea I had one. I do have a namesake that has an account. My dd14 had SIXTEEN people all with her name. My account is private so if they are asking for a password to an account that isn't supposed to be open to the public, I wanna know.

But I wouldn't accept a job with an employer who wanted to be privy to my social life. There has to be a disconnect between us or there'll never be mutual respect. To many people don't understand this.

 

I'm being serious and carrying on a serious conversation. I believe it is perfectly legal already for an employer to ask to see a prospective employee naked. I would refuse, personally, but I think it is legal.