Employers asking for Facebook passwords as part of hiring?

As one who has been out of the “normal” employment sector for several years now, I had no idea that this was even happening, but apparently, some employers, as part of their hiring process, are demanding that potential employees provide them with not only the name of their Facebook profile, but also with the password to their account.  They claim this act is part of a background check, though I’m guessing that could only be the case if they’re too cheap to do a proper, legal background check.  Luckily, several states have enacted laws to protect their citizens against this invasive process and many more are working toward a resolution.

So far, the states of California, Washington, Maryland, Illinois, Michigan, Delaware and New Jersey (and possibly more that I missed) have passed a law of some sort dealing with preserving social media privacy.  My own state of Oregon just voted on theirs the other day, though I’ve been unable to discover how that one turned out.  Some of these states have put up barriers against employers asking for social media information, while others are aimed at protecting people against educational institutions doing the same thing.

States are falling into line quickly, getting protections in place for this changing age of human interaction.  Some of the laws even allow for civil suits against offending employers, though proving the validity of this might be difficult considering the normal one-on-one format of your typical job interview.

Really, the idea of giving someone that I don’t yet work for (or even properly know) my Facebook password seems incredibly ludicrous to me.  But in today’s economy, people need jobs and so are willing to succumb to these voyeuristic bosses.  In truth, however, letting your potential boss troll through your FB account is not only invasive, but dangerous.  If they use it to collect your personal information, they might be able to abuse that information.

Though the whole idea of asking to peruse the inside of someone’s online account seems ridiculous, some people are going to try to push the boundaries of common sense and decency until they get hit in the face with a proper law.  It’s unfortunate, but true.  Thankfully, we’re savvy enough to put them in their place.

Facebook logo courtesy of Facebook via Wikicommons