Employers who think it’s OK to ask job applicants for their Facebook passwords ought to think again.
Such a request violates our traditions of privacy and perhaps even our laws. If it’s not illegal, then federal lawmakers ought to make it so.
In this day and age when so much information about each of us already is available online, it is important to establish privacy bulwarks that cannot be breached.
This is a battle worth fighting.
Already, two U.S. senators have called upon federal agencies to investigate employers’ demands for social network user names and passwords from prospective employees.
Richard Blumenthal and Charles Schumer, both Democrats, said employers have no right to delve into personal accounts.
Rep. Ed Perlmutter went a step further last week. The Jefferson County Democrat proposed an amendment to a communications regulation bill that would have let the Federal Communications Commission block employers from compelling the disclosure of passwords.
His amendment was shot down by House Republicans, apparently in part over fear of giving too much power to the FCC. But fortunately at least one Republican, Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, is drafting legislation that would bar employers from requesting passwords.
“It only makes sense because those that are using these kinds of social media have an expectation of privacy,” Perlmutter said last week. “They have an expectation that their right to free speech or their right to free religion will be respected when they use these social media outlets.”
His contention is spot on.
Even the social networking giant itself went on the offensive over the password request trend. Facebook said it is a violation of their user agreement. Their bottom line: Don’t give your password to anyone.
Though password requests from employers have been happening for years — we editorialized against the city of Bozeman, Mont., doing it in 2009 — the issue has caught fire in recent weeks.
The attention comes in the wake of an Associated Press story saying some companies and government agencies were going beyond sleuthing online to see what was publicly available and asking for passwords to log in as users and look around.
A lesser-discussed part of this phenomenon is asking applicants to “friend” human resource managers or otherwise give them access to information that is not publicly available.
This also is unacceptable.
There is enough information available in the digital public domain, and from resumes, criminal background checks and academic credentials for employers to make informed decisions about an applicant.
Employers don’t need to go snooping around in personal accounts, and they shouldn’t be allowed to demand access as a condition of employment.
