Slashdot Mirror
Bozeman, MT Drops Password Info Requirement
mcmoodle writes "Bozeman, Montana has decided that they don't want applicant personal information after all, citing a worldwide backlash on the issue:
'"Effective at noon today the city of Bozeman permanently ceased the practice of requesting that candidates selected for positions under a provisional job offer to provide their usernames or passwords for candidates' internet sites," said Chris Kukulski, Bozeman City Manager. ... Kukulski says after a 90 minute staff meeting held earlier today, officials decided asking applicants to provide their passwords to sites such as Facebook or MySpace, "exceeded that which is acceptable to our community." Kukulski apologized for the negative impact the issue has generated from news organizations and blogs around the world.' I didn't have any doubt this would be immediately squashed. Now I'm just curious as to how many personal accounts they actually went through!"
I've found that when managers are ignorant about technology they often pretend that they understand. Chris Kukulski, Bozeman City Manager, seems to be one of those. Yet he says, "Integrity, leadership, service, and teamwork are the core values of our organization..."
Although he has stopped asking for passwords, there is no evidence that he actually understands, because the story says this: "... although the city will stop asking for passwords Kukulski says the passwords already given by previous applicants will remain the confidential property of the city." That's a surprisingly ignorant position to take, since site owners can change their passwords at any time.
Some people can see that technology is re-shaping our world in an exciting way and want to be part of that, but they don't want to do the work of actually understanding how and why.
It would be interesting if someone would collect all the Slashdot stories about managers pretending they understand the more complicated world surrounding technology, but actually being very ignorant. For example, yesterday there was this story about a university needlessly losing money: IT: Univ. of Wisconsin's 30-Year-Old Payroll System Needs a $40 Million Fix.
Are you implying that a person's passwords to their personal accounts on websites are subject to public information requirements?
Because the FBI has maintained that obtaining a person's passwords without their consent is a crime.
Consent is the requirement.
Off the top of my head, I'd say it's to make sure they get to see ALL friends-locked posts.
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