A few days ago, headlines around the world reported how an increasing number of prospective job applicants like one Justin Bassett, a New York City statistician, were being asked to hand over their Facebook usernames and passwords, the proverbial keys to the kingdom, so that the employer could login and take a look around for signs the person isn’t a suitable candidate.
Outrage was immediate and widespread, with many calling it a shocking breach of personal privacy. ACLU attorney Catherine Crump compared the practice to opening up the mail in your mailbox to see if there was anything of interest.
“It’s an invasion of privacy for private employers to insist on looking at people’s private Facebook pages as a condition of employment or consideration in an application process,” she wrote in a blog post. “People are entitled to their private lives. You’d be appalled if your employer insisted on opening up your postal mail to see if there was anything of interest inside. It’s equally out of bounds for an employer to go on a fishing expedition through a person’s private social media account.”
Late last week Facebook responded to the news, calling it “distressing” and “alarming.”
“This practice undermines the privacy expectations and the security of both the user and the user’s friends,” says the company. “It also potentially exposes the employer who seeks this access to unanticipated legal liability.”
It’s the latter part of that statement that should make employers weary of continuing to coerce job applicants into giving permission to violate their privacy.
“As a user, you shouldn’t be forced to share your private information and communications just to get a job,” adds the company. “And as the friend of a user, you shouldn’t have to worry that your private information or communications will be revealed to someone you don’t know and didn’t intend to share with just because that user is looking for a job. That’s why we’ve made it a violation of Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities to share or solicit a Facebook password.”
Today Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) entered the controversy by calling on the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to launch a federal investigation into the matter.
“I am alarmed and outraged by rapidly and widely spreading employer practices seeking access to Facebook passwords or confidential information on other social networks,” said Blumenthal in a press release. “A ban on these practices is necessary to stop unreasonable and unacceptable invasions of privacy. An investigation by the Department of Justice and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission will help remedy ongoing intrusions and coercive practices, while we draft new statutory protections to clarify and strengthen the law. With few exceptions, employers do not have the need or the right to demand access to applicants’ private, password-protected information.”
Blumenthal and Schumer called the practice a ”grave intrusion” into personal privacy that could set a dangerous precedent for personal privacy and online privacy, make it more difficult for Americans to get jobs, and expose employers to discrimination claims.
“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?” added Schumer. “In an age where more and more of our personal information – and our private social interactions – are online, it is vital that all individuals be allowed to determine for themselves what personal information they want to make public and protect personal information from their would-be employers. This is especially important during the job-seeking process, when all the power is on one side of the fence. Before this disturbing practice becomes widespread, we must have an immediate investigation into whether the practice violates federal law – I’m confident the investigation will show it does. Facebook agrees, and I’m sure most Americans agree, that employers have no business asking for your Facebook password.”
Let’s hope the DoJ and EEOC side with job applicants and prevent employers from demanding they hand over the keys to their social networking lives.
Stay tuned.
@jaredmoya | [email protected]
Jared MoyaI've been interested in P2P since the early, high-flying days of Napster and KaZaA. I believe that analog copyright laws are ill-suited to the digital age, and that art and culture shouldn't be subject to the whims of international entertainment industry conglomerates. Twitter | Google Plus
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