Europe Says Employers Must Warn Job Applicants Before Checking Them Out on Social Media (cnn.com)

Europe has a message for employers: Think twice before you check the social media profiles of job applicants. From a report: European officials have issued new guidelines that warn bosses about the legal hazards of scrolling through the social media profiles of potential hires. The rules require employers to issue a disclaimer before they check applicants' online accounts, including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and LinkedIn. If applicants don't see the warning, the company could be in breach of European Union data protection rules. Employers are also barred from compiling social media data as part of the hiring process unless it is "necessary and relevant" for a particular job. The guidelines are part of a lengthy document clarifying data protection laws that apply to employers across 28 EU countries.

Comments

Ye Olde Checkbox...

[__aaclcg7560]

For job applications in CA, there's a checkbox to receive a copy of the background check and/or credit reports that the employer requests. In 20+ years of working in IT, no private sector company has ever requested a background check and/or credit reports. Only my government IT job requested background check AND credit reports (all three bureaus). I expect social media to be more of the same.

Re:My my

[cayenne8]

I"m really torn on this...

I mean, I do believe, that pretty much anything you do outside of work that doesn't directly affect the business...should be off limits.

I also believe that companies should be banned from asking for credentials to log into social media, etc accounts.

However, I'm not sure I have a problem with the business' HR searching through publicly available data a person self publishes for the world.

I mean, if someone is stupid enough to post a bunch of party pictures with him sucking a skull bong in areas where this behavior is still illegal....well, that says more than a persons habit, that they are not smart enough that they should know this should be kept private, a lack of common sense you might say.

I think weed should be legalized in all the US...I don't believe in drug tests....but if you're job depends on not doing that activity, and you self "incriminate" online...well, that says you're kinda stupid and maybe not the type of employee someone would want.

As I've mentioned before, I personally take it even further, in that I have no social media accounts, and have never signed up for any to date.

I've always been concerned about this from decades back that it could impact my bottom line $$...and my livelyhood vs someones cat pics, just isn't worth it to me.

Besides, all the people that I want to converse with, know how to reach me...and we try as often as possible to get together in meatspace. We only use texting/email...and yes, even voice calls to arrange the more important face to face times.