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Senators Ask Feds To Probe Facebook Log-in Requests
thomst writes "Cnet's Michelle Meyers reports that democratic senators Richard Blumenthal and Charles Schumer have asked the Justice Department to investigate what they call a 'new disturbing trend' of prospective employers demanding job applicants to turn over user names and passwords for their social networks. 'Employers have no right to ask job applicants for their house keys or to read their diaries — why should they be able to ask them for their Facebook passwords and gain unwarranted access to a trove of private information about what we like, what messages we send to people, or who we are friends with?' asked Schumer. Last Friday, in response to complaints from employees, Facebook published a post expressing its opposition to the practice, which it said undermines both the security and the privacy of the user and the user's friends. Erin Egan, the company's chief privacy officer for policy, offered that employers who demand password information for prospective employees might just end up getting sued."
Posted from my employee's account
AccountKiller
Pah! So what happens to people like me with no social network? The can't ask me to send something I don't have.
Whereas, I am legitimately not on any social network. I wonder if they could prove otherwise for people who are.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
I'm hearing a lot about this, but I have yet to actually find someone who will confirm that they've been asked to hand over their account information. While I agree that employers should not be asking for this information, I suspect that a lot of this noise is just noise.
I want to see people name names. List the companies that are asking for usernames and passwords.
"A plan fiendishly clever in its intricacies"- Homer Simpson
If you give a prospective employer your password, you're proving that you can't be trusted. Mike Loukides said it well.
You can be fired in most jurisdictions for lying on a resume, if it's proven, so I'd be carefull with that.
Facebooks Terms of Use prevent you from providing your password to another. "You will not share your password, (or in the case of developers, your secret key), let anyone else access your account, or do anything else that might jeopardize the security of your account."
Anyone using Facebook agrees with this the same as they do any other EULA or agreement. Any potential employer who requests your password is asking you to break the legal agreement that you have with Facebook before you can work for them.
http://www.facebook.com/legal/terms?ref=pf
How about a probe in to how companies use people's credit reports for hiring decisions?
How is that OK but looking at people's facebook page NOT?
I have to return some videotapes...
I don't know about other countries, but in the US, employers may not ask about the following.
Race
Color
Sex
Religion
National origin
Birthplace
Age
Disability
Marital/family status
Let the person asking the question know that by asking for the Facebook information, they are using a back door approach to gather information they are not entitled to ask and that you object to giving that information.
Any reasonable employer would not want that legal liability.
I'd say that if they make their request in writing, and I sign it in the presence of a witness and of course get to keep a copy, I'll agree.
It'd be fun to see them break out in a cold sweat.
But let's say they agree. After all is signed, then I say "You do realize that my profile likely contains at least one piece of protected information that would be illegal for you to ask me to share, don't you?"
Heh...
I think the way I would put it is this:
"I'm going to say no to you, potential employer, and here is why you should hire me over those who applicants who comply. When people add me as a friend and grant me access to their page, they are trusting me with information. When they contact me privately, they are trusting me not to share what they say. If, in the future, I were to leave this company and a future company asked me for confidential secrets regarding your business, you would rightfully expect that I would decline to cooperate. The fact that I am risking an employment opportunity by declining to cooperate with you here shows you that I am a trustworthy person, even under duress, and other candidates who cooperate with you are not so much."
Anybody who feels comfortable demanding extremely intrusive access to personal information will likely not even think twice about assuming that anybody who isn't as transparent as the norm probably has something to hide.
Anybody who feels comfortable providing extremely intrusive access to personal information will likely not even think twice about providing strangers access to company confidential data, and should not be hired.
I do well in interviews. Always have, and probably always will. It's the smile, the handshake and my unwillingness to bullshit.
Some businesses just want to tell you how great they are. Some people just want to tell you how great they are; how they've climbed the ladder - "You too could be a fat manager on 50k if you turn yourself into a lying slob like me!" No, not me, you're mistaken.
Other businesses just stick to the questions, one after another after another. These are the hardest. They don't care that I'm not planning to be here in five years, and can't understand me not wanting to answer the question. ("I need a job to pay the bills", was an actual answer that landed me one job. Ask me that question again after I've worked for you for a month).
The best interviews are always friendly chats.
My point? Interviews are a two-way process. They want to know about me and, this is the part some don't understand, I want to know about them.
What was your turnover last year? And the year before? (are you going to be around next year?)
Why did this vacancy become available? Why did the other person leave? (is this a shit job? Are they willing to bullshit me?)
What are the staff turnover rates? (is this whole place shit?)
Can I have your Facebook password? (never been asked, but if they want mine...)
Ask questions. Ask why. Ask it five times. And remember that bullshit stinks. It may take a while to reach your nose but it stinks all the same. Everyone knows the smell.
This post contains benzene, nitrosamines, formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide.
Boss: Son, what are those icons in your browser?
Employee: Thats ScriptBlock, Adblock Plus and Ghostery, sir.
Boss: Where'd you get them?
Employee: From Mozilla, sir.
Boss: What is that you've got written on wallpaper?
Employee: "Information Wants to be Free", sir.
Boss: You have "Information Wants to be Free" on your desktop wallpaper and you have ScriptBlock, Adblock Plus and Ghostery running in your browser. What's that supposed to be, some kind of sick joke?
Employee: No, sir.
Boss: You'd better get your head and your ass wired together, or HR will take a giant shit on you.
Employee: Yes, sir.
Boss: Now answer my question or you'll be standing tall before the man.
Employee: I think I was trying to suggest something about the duality of privacy, sir.
Boss: The what?
Employee: The duality of privacy. The Moglen thing, sir.
Boss: Whose side are you on, son?
Employee: Our side, sir.
Boss: Don't you love your company?
Employee: Yes, sir.
Boss: Then how about getting with the program? Why don't you jump on the team and come on in for the big win?
Employee: Yes, sir.
Boss: Son, all I've ever asked of my employees is that they obey my orders as they would the word of God. We are here to help the users, because inside every user there is a Facebook account trying to get out. It's a hardball world, son. We've gotta keep our heads until this privacy craze blows over.
Employee: Aye-aye, sir.
We play the game with the bravery of being out of range