Facebook: Legal Action Against Employers Asking For Your Password

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Facebook: Legal Action Against Employers Asking For Your Password

Posted by Soulskill on Friday March 23, 2012 @05:42AM from the nip-this-in-the-bud dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Facebook today weighed in on the issue of employers asking current and prospective employees for their Facebook passwords. The company noted that doing so undermines the privacy expectations and the security of both the user and the user's friends, as well as potentially exposes the employer to legal liability. The company is looking to draft new laws as well as take legal action against employers who do this." A least one U.S. Senator agrees with them.

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i would love to sue my boss for that by drodal · 2012-03-23 05:44 · Score: 5, Funny

it would be fun. Help me facebook.
1. Re:i would love to sue my boss for that by mcavic · 2012-03-23 06:01 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  Your comment reminds me of when my company did layoffs:
  Employer: ... and an extra two weeks of severance if you agree not to sue us.
  Employee: Wait... I can sue you?
2. Re:i would love to sue my boss for that by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-23 06:38 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  I won't even give my boss my work password. IT's my account and any access by another person to it would violate my ability to know anything done with that account was done by me. We have a policy against it. No one not even a superior is supposed to have access to our A/D account. Any changes have to be documented. They have the ability to change my password. There would be a record of who did it and questions can be asked then. I view all of my accounts with the same level of security. My companies involvement with me ends at their network.
3. Re:i would love to sue my boss for that by Caratted · 2012-03-23 06:48 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Your comment reminds me of when my company did layoffs: Employer: ... and an extra two weeks of severance if you agree not to sue us. Employee: Wait... I can sue you?
  That's when you say, "no, I won't sign that."
  
  And see how much more they offer you. Sales 101, my man.
4. Re:i would love to sue my boss for that by drodal · 2012-03-23 06:49 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Well in all fairness, facebook is the only one here that can stand up and make a difference. It's nearly impossible for each person that's been wronged to prove their point, but if facebook gets enough complaints they can wave there deep pocketed arms and say, "wanna fight us, cuz we can fight for a loooong time" So no, they aren't the bastions of privacy, but they are on the right side here. So good for them.
5. Re:i would love to sue my boss for that by TheRaven64 · 2012-03-23 06:51 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  I didn't realise there were large companies that didn't do this. It seems like common sense.
  Expecting common sense from large companies is certainly one way of ensuring that your life is full of surprises...
  
  --
  I am TheRaven on Soylent News
6. Re:i would love to sue my boss for that by niftydude · 2012-03-23 07:06 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Well Facebook only breaches your privacy when a company pays for the service. They have no desire to give that info out for free.
  
  --
  You can never know everything, and part of what you do know will always be wrong. Perhaps even the most important part.
7. Re:i would love to sue my boss for that by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-23 07:18 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  They aren't protecting your privacy, they are protecting their own data integrity.
8. Re:i would love to sue my boss for that by bored_engineer · 2012-03-23 08:49 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Why is refusing to provide such information not also a real solution? I would no more give access to my e-mail than I would provide the details of conversations between me and my wife.
9. Re:i would love to sue my boss for that by steveg · 2012-03-23 10:00 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  If I were applying to any company, it would be as technical staff (IT.)
  Handing over a password to *anything* would be proof of a lack of competence for the job, and I'd tell them that.
  
  --
  Ignorance killed the cat. Curiosity was framed.
How about this? by olsmeister · 2012-03-23 05:49 · Score: 5, Interesting

Make part of the Facebook login process to enter your your race, age, marital status, or other things that it is illegal for employers to ask you about in an interview. If they ask you to log in for them, you can claim that that is a form of asking you that information and is not allowed.
Already illegal by gurps_npc · 2012-03-23 05:50 · Score: 5, Interesting

If you have a good lawyer, you can probably sue them already. In most facebook accounts, people provide a lot of information that it is illegal for the employer to ask about - age, gender, race, sexuality. Employers can't ask these questions, and similarly, they can't ask questions that they know will reveal that information. We don't really need a new law, just a smart lawyer

--
excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
Re:wait... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-23 05:50 · Score: 5, Informative

Anyone can draft a law. Even Reddit. Even you. Then that party needs to convince a member of the House or Senate to introduce it, and then both need to pass it, and the President needs to sign it, and (if applicable) the Supreme Court needs to uphold it. Take a Civics class.
Sure, I'll give you that FB password... by kbob88 · 2012-03-23 05:52 · Score: 5, Insightful

Right after you give me the root password to the company's servers!
Seems like a fair trade to me...
Re:But now... by ohnocitizen · 2012-03-23 05:54 · Score: 5, Interesting

We do have another alternative, as unlikely a road to victory as it may seem. We can create a PR storm targeting the company using twitter and other social networks to call a company out on its privacy violating ways. Even a year ago I would have ignored the various online petitions and such as not having actual power. But the recent victories against Bank of America and Verizon have really got me thinking. Perhaps if a company is big enough or the violation flagrant enough to garner some buzz, there is a way to punish companies for misbehavior.
Easy Screening by jimmerz28 · 2012-03-23 05:55 · Score: 5, Funny

I'd just use this as a screening question for potential employees.
If you willingly give me your login credentials I should just assume you're a moron and not hire you.
My answer is "I don't use facebook" by erroneus · 2012-03-23 05:55 · Score: 5, Insightful

And it will always be my answer. Whether or not I use facebook is no one's business. Not my family. Not my friends. Not my co-workers or employers. "Please wear this delightful necklace with a GPS and a camera to take pictures of whatever is around you at any given time. BTW, it's a condition of employment." There's just something dark and sinister about that. How any employer could think this is a great idea when they know damned well they wouldn't be willing to share that information with their employees is looking upon their employees as a "lesser being" and certainly not equal as idealized by the US constitution. If this is not a "discriminatory act" it most definitely leads to discriminatory behavior.
There is already a list of things an employer cannot ask an employee for. I think it's time to make a law which issues a WHITE LIST of things employers can ask for rather than using the black list system we have today. The potential for this to become an ever-growing problem is too great.
Re:But now... by arth1 · 2012-03-23 05:57 · Score: 5, Insightful

Or better yet - don't have a Facebook account.
Re:But now... by Culture20 · 2012-03-23 06:06 · Score: 5, Interesting

It's actually easier to sue for discrimination if you allow them full access. They'll suddenly know your age, political preference, your other-racial significant other, sexual preference, etc. Plenty of fertile ground for lawsuits.
Re:But now... by SilentStaid · 2012-03-23 06:11 · Score: 5, Funny

Have you come across any employers who do like to be told to fuck off?
Yes, but I work in a specialized industry. If you'll excuse me, I have 13 more movies to finish by the end of the week.
Re:Here's how I reacted to that....(true story) by realityimpaired · 2012-03-23 10:33 · Score: 5, Interesting

Oh, did you think a severance was something you are entitled to? I see your line of reasoning a lot of slashdot. The time to negotiate is not when you are being laid off/fired. Consider yourself lucky for getting anything above and beyond a pink slip.

Am I ever glad I don't live in whatever backwater country you're in. In the civilized world, severance is mandated by law in the case of a layoff, either in the form of advance notice ("we'll be shutting down operations next November, line something up now and if you get a job before then, we'll give you a reference"), or pay in lieu of notice ("you're all done. pack your things, go home. your final pay will have 4 weeks' pay in lieu of the notice"). The amount of notice or pay in lieu is dictated by the size of the layoff... a small layoff of 20 or fewer people is only 2 weeks, with it increasing significantly with the number of people being let go. When Dell shut down operations in this city, I walked away with a $25,000 severance package (which would have been more, but I was given 4 weeks' notice), and got to keep my medical benefits for 6 months, and I wasn't anywhere near senior management.
There is a difference between being laid off and being fired.