Would You Hand Over Your Facebook Password to Prospective Employers?
Yesterday, Forbes staff writer Kashmir Hill posted an interesting article on schools and prospective employers requiring students/prospective employees to fork over their Facebook passwords.
Here’s a snippet:
. . . The ACLU announced that it is helping a Minnesota high school student sue Minnewaska Area Schools after school officials forced her to hand over her Facebook password so that they could search her private messages for an alleged conversation with another student about S-E-X. Because the school is a public institution, the ACLU alleges this violated the student’s constitutional right to be free from unreasonable searches. Meanwhile, MSNBC reports on prospective prison guards in Maryland being forced to hand over their Facebook passwords during job interviews and college athletes who are forced to friend their coaches on the social network. The Maryland Department of Corrections wanted to check applicants’ pages for any signs that they’re affiliated with a gang, while coaches want to make sure athletes are behaving (and not violating any NCAA rules).
I asked our Twitter followers if they’d be willing to give their Facebook passwords to prospective employers. My guess is that no, you guys are not willing to give prospective employers that kind of behind-the-scenes action.
Well, read on, readers.
Those of you offended by the idea of a prospective employer simply looking at your public-facing Facebook page must now be curled up in the fetal position, rocking back and forth, and crying at the horror of it all. In fact, says privacy attorney Behnam Dayanim of Axinn Veltrop Harkrider, there is no legal protection for you, at this point, if an employer asks for your Facebook password during a job interview. You can (and you should!) say no, but private employers have the right to ask for it and can choose not to hire you if you refuse.
“Legally, the employer has a strong position. You can say no, but there’s no element of duress there. If you don’t get the job, you’re no worse off than you were before,” says Dayanim. “That said, as a policy matter for the employers, I think it’s a bad idea.”
You can read Hill’s article in its entirety here.
Anyone else oh-em-gee-ing over this? So, what are your thoughts? Would you comply with an employer’s request for your password?
Luckily, I don’t have a personal Facebook page. I am a reformed Facebook obsessionista — I quit the social networking site back in 2009 because the level of over-sharing became intolerable and more than ever, I’m glad I did.
How many of you have thought about dropping off the Facebook grid?