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Montana City Requires Workers' Internet Accounts
justinlindh writes "Bozeman, Montana is now requiring all applicants for city jobs to furnish Internet account information for 'background checking.' A portion of the application reads, "Please list any and all, current personal or business websites, web pages or memberships on any Internet-based chat rooms, social clubs or forums, to include, but not limited to: Facebook, Google, Yahoo, YouTube.com, MySpace, etc.' The article goes on to mention, 'There are then three lines where applicants can list the Web sites, their user names and log-in information and their passwords.'"
1. Create Account with social site
2. Put name and password on app
3. Wait for it to be leaked and abused
4. Profit!
No need to get a job - this is like money in the bank.
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
Where I live the fire department is a private volunteer organization. Everything I have ever seen indicates that it is a more efficient organization than any government fire department.
The police force does not protect you or your property, they apprehend and hold for trial those who stole/damaged your property. That doesn't do you any good. The damage is already done.
The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
Do you have any data to back up your fire department efficiency anecdote?
The police force protects your property by their existence. Potential criminals know there will likely be consequences, and this deters crime.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
In every historical case, lack of collective action has lead to oppression of the working class by the owning class. What choices does a poor, non-owning class person actually have in a purely free market system? There are significant barriers to keep the poor from acquiring enough resources to become independent from the major resource holders. And as I mentioned, the labor market systematically undervalues labor. When all resources are owned, a non-owner has no way of being productive without an owner's consent. The owning class then owns the labor of that person. Slavery is the end result of anarcho-capitalism.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
They might as well have asked for the keys to your house, the combination of your safe, and all your banking account info. They didn't do that because it is well understood that this is wrong. I bet the form and policy were made up by someone who's only exposure to social networking sites was over the shoulders of their kids. And this is probably where the idea of asking for passwords came from.
Kurt
Clearly, issues of privacy was the point of our local CBS affiliate's story this morning (the linked article). This issue has snowballed within the community, and it's still very early yet. EVERYONE I am speaking with is outraged and questioning the legality and constitutionality of this. I suspect this will be raised at our City Commission meeting. My immediate concern this morning with Bozeman HR was to get somebody to wake up to the conflagration this was going to cause in privacy circles, and the very time-sensitive nature of responding effectively to these concerns. Ultimately, I can't imagine that the background check form won't be amended shortly, as this is definitely not in keeping with our city's character.