Employers and Schools Request Private Facebook Tours: Fair or Foul?
SodaHead News
2012/03/13 13:00:00
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While the legal system is trying to work out the kinks in social media privacy laws, some employers and colleges are trying to use the current system to their advantage by requesting full access to applicants' Facebook profiles. That did mean usernames and passwords until the ACLU put an end to it, but some applicants are still being asked to explore their private profiles under surveillance while interviewing for jobs.
According to MSNBC, the Department of Corrections has been asking its potential hires to log into their Facebook account while an interviewer watches, and go through their wall posts, photos, friends, etc., essentially giving the potential employer a front-row seat to their Facebook lives. In a similar light, some college athletes are being required to "friend" their coaches as a way of monitoring the athletes' personal lives. It's even been written into the University of North Carolina handbook.
D.C. Lawyer Bradley Shear told MSNBC, "I can't believe some people think it's OK to do this. Maybe it's OK if you live in a totalitarian regime, but we still have a Constitution to protect us. It's not a far leap from reading people's Facebook posts to reading their email ... As a society, where are we going to draw the line? ... What if the University of Virginia had been monitoring accounts in the Yeardley Love case and missed signals that something was going to happen? What about the liability the school might have?" Do you think this new Facebook tactic that employers and schools are using is fair or foul?
According to MSNBC, the Department of Corrections has been asking its potential hires to log into their Facebook account while an interviewer watches, and go through their wall posts, photos, friends, etc., essentially giving the potential employer a front-row seat to their Facebook lives. In a similar light, some college athletes are being required to "friend" their coaches as a way of monitoring the athletes' personal lives. It's even been written into the University of North Carolina handbook.
D.C. Lawyer Bradley Shear told MSNBC, "I can't believe some people think it's OK to do this. Maybe it's OK if you live in a totalitarian regime, but we still have a Constitution to protect us. It's not a far leap from reading people's Facebook posts to reading their email ... As a society, where are we going to draw the line? ... What if the University of Virginia had been monitoring accounts in the Yeardley Love case and missed signals that something was going to happen? What about the liability the school might have?" Do you think this new Facebook tactic that employers and schools are using is fair or foul?
Top Opinion
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Mr.Hoodz the Truth Troll 2012/03/13 14:22:52
( notice it is YOUR face book account )
The modern liberalism constantly tries to redefine what terms mean for government intrusion and control of private lives.
Work and school should NOT be tied to the rest of our lives.
I have a daughter though who has a facebook account which looks like a soap opera. I've tried to tell her that she needs to clean up her facebook account but she doesn't listen to me. She doesn't get hired for any decent job either.
Silence is golden, discretion is the better part of valor, and if you don't hang your laundry in public...no-one can comment about your skidmarks!
1. If you give "personal references"....they already can inquire about your private life. That is why they are called "personal references".
2. If they are work references, then their comments are limited to their knowledge relating to you at work...BUT they cannot be your supervisor or employer.
3. Employer or supervisors are limited by a SCOTUS decision as to what they can say, and that is very limited.
Employers can do credit and background checks on you as well. Of course they will get your signature on a form before doing it, and the form will tell you that refusing to allow it will prevent your hiring.
If you have a facebook page, and have it public.....you're a doofus. If you have it private, then all you need to do is think like a grownup and close that account for a day or two. If it does not appear when searched for...then you don't have one. I would think that people in this day and age would be a little brighter about their identity issues and instead of using their first name...use a "nickname" that has no relation to their first name, or just use a bogus identifier...like you do here. Its not rocket science.
They can ask personal stuff about their relationship with you - how long they've known you, whether they think you'd be a good employee....but they can't ask if they know how many times you've had sex in the past two months - how many alcoholic beverages you've consumed in that period - whether you ever cheated on your girlfriend. Those are the types of things your friends on Facebook might know and your potential employer might see as they perused your account. That is NOT okay!
No way in this world would I give access to a prospective employer or College, it's none of their business.
Not that I have anything bad, I'm probably the worlds most boring facebook user, but it's the point.
Might as well let them rifle through your personal papers.
But also, I don't have to worry too much, I live in Australia lol.
You're giving your potential employer license to view personal things about your family & friends, also, which is a privacy issue. It's one thing if you have no privacy settings engaged on your Facebook account, but you're allowing them to go into "private" information, too. Would you want your employer to be privy to stuff you, your family & friends said or did at a "public" party or bar, too? Serious?
I don't think many citizens actually have thought through this, you included. Also, should you point them to SodaHeads, too, so they can see all the mean & nasty comments you & others may be writing? Many people behave differently at work than they do in their more relaxed personal life. An employer has no business in knowing how you behave in other venues.
There is stuff that we say or do with others that is none of anyone else's business. It's one thing for employers to know if you're on the FBI's Most Wanted list, have a criminal record, or an alcohol/drug abuser, but quite something different for them to know your ...&
You're giving your potential employer license to view personal things about your family & friends, also, which is a privacy issue. It's one thing if you have no privacy settings engaged on your Facebook account, but you're allowing them to go into "private" information, too. Would you want your employer to be privy to stuff you, your family & friends said or did at a "public" party or bar, too? Serious?
I don't think many citizens actually have thought through this, you included. Also, should you point them to SodaHeads, too, so they can see all the mean & nasty comments you & others may be writing? Many people behave differently at work than they do in their more relaxed personal life. An employer has no business in knowing how you behave in other venues.
There is stuff that we say or do with others that is none of anyone else's business. It's one thing for employers to know if you're on the FBI's Most Wanted list, have a criminal record, or an alcohol/drug abuser, but quite something different for them to know your opinion about religion or politics, or how many kids you have, the status of your personal love relationships, etc. Biased employers are everywhere, & I don't want someone refusing to hire me because of how many young kids I have at home, my sexual preference, religion, or community affiliations, etc. These are things that employers are not allowed to ask during interviews, so why should they be allowed to access the same information on your FB page? Please tell me that my thoughts here have caused you to think differently.
If they demand it, close your account.
Just kidding! I have a live feed of the East stairwell's security camera linked to my smart phone!