Colleges and Employers Now Requiring Applicants' Facebook Passwords

Shoggoth2588

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Aug 31, 2009
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Wow...I would say "good thing I'm on my way out of Maryland" but I never tried getting those kinds of jobs anyway. I wonder what would happen if you don't have a Facebook, Twitter, etc...
 

Jodah

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Aug 2, 2008
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Step one: Use a fake name for Facebook
Step two: Write "I don't use Facebook" where it asks on your application
Step three: ???
Step four: Profit!

Seriously, what are they going to do? Refuse to hire you because you don't use Facebook? I'm no lawyer yet but I would hazard to guess that aside from a few specific tech jobs that would be filed under discriminatory hiring practices and lead to many a law suit.
 

Nimcha

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While I believe everybody is responsible what they put on the internet and can't expect full privacy anywhere in the virtual word, this seems stretching it a bit. I don't use Facebook, and as such would probably stand a lot less chance of getting a job at these businesses. Regardless of my qualities.

That's what's really wrong here.
 

Doctor_Fruitbat

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Apr 11, 2009
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What about other sites like MySpace? Hell, what about messageboards like this one? Do they need to know if I've ever entered the Photoshop contests at Something Awful or B3ta? This smacks of hoary old farts deciding that this here FaceSpace doohicky is clearly a worry, and as upright citizens, they clearly have a right to root through other people's stuff.

Although as one of Formica Archonis's articles up there pointed out, perhaps they would change their tune about 'nothing to hide' if you asked them to strip naked and answer a series of deeply personal questions about their sex life. Being allowed some peace and quiet and not having the quirks of your personal life sneered over and prodded at is a pretty basic right, not to mention good manners.

But more to the point, the whole purpose of a job interview is to judge how well a person could do that job; how you present yourself, what you say and what you put on your CV is all that is relevant. Someone might think I was wasting my life LARPing at weekends and playing Team Fortress every night, but since neither of those have anything to do with my professional skills and presentation, it's none of their business to know that stuff. Saying that people shouldn't use Facebook completely misses why this is happening, and what the real issue is.
 

JoJo

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Irridium said:
What if I don't have a facebook account?
Then clearly you don't exist and aren't a real person, because everyone has a Facebook account these days.
 

Comando96

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The_root_of_all_evil said:


Dear US of A,

Get this. Soon.

Root.

PS. Otherwise, ditch Bookface or at least get another account.
Getting another mock account could be the solution :D

Well... I don't actually use facebook... so if someone asked me for infomation... what would I d- Oh wait I'm in the UK and have the Data Protection Act looking after me :)
 

Farther than stars

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WOOHOO! Go Shear! I'm of the opinion that lawyers usually put their mouth where their money is, or rather the money they hope to gain, but I'm OK with it as long as long as they're doing it on my side.
I can completely understand this sort of thing, but only in government circles. In that instance, vetting and full disclosure are part of the course, since anything that can be used to judge or even sue an individual can drag the administration down with it. And, more imporantly, people have a right to an honest representation of their leaders.
But if this sort of thing leaked to a corporate level, then it's a hefty invasion of privacy, such as the whole college situation. The academic and athletic abilities of an individual have no association with their private social activities, digital or otherwise.
Moreover, I don't think the audio bugs comparison is an apt one, but it's definitely in the same category with the secrecy of correspondance statutes, which may not officialy exist in the United States, but are certainly supported by the Supreme Court under the Fourth Amendment rights.
To be honest, I think the lack of legal infrastructure concerning digital matters is abominable, considering the prominence of these matters in our modern-day society. I believe there should be more oversight surrounding both the issues of copyright violation and privacy invasion.
 

putowtin

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Jul 7, 2010
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Thankfully I live in "good ol Blighty" so this

The_root_of_all_evil said:


Dear US of A,

Get this. Soon.
Is me, but I don't and never have, used facebook, if I want to chat with friends we go out for a beer, and the whole arguement of "old high school friends that can track you down", I don't want to be tracked down!
 

RARbuddha

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Orange12345 said:
Wow this is weird, I don't use any social media but this is still ridiculous, this is like asking for my e-mail address and password

Easy solution though just get everyone to refuse and they can't do anything about it
Unfortunately, the US is still in such economic duress that jobs are scarce and many people will put up w this shit just for the money. Once/if the job market returns to pre-crash levels or recovers significantly, most businesses will do whatever they want.

Today's businesses:
You don't want this job? W/e the 100 other people who applied do, and I see that they love kitties and their Aunt just had a hysterectomy; Hired!
 

The Random One

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May 29, 2008
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Well, joke's on you, multiple institutions. I don't have a Facebook account. And, uh, don't live in the US, so I can't even apply for any of you! HOW ABOUT THAT

Formica Archonis said:
one employer asked me how many sick days I'd be taking per year if I got the job
"One for each day that I'm sick."
Alternatively:
"More than I'll take if I don't get the job."
 

Formica Archonis

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Doctor_Fruitbat said:
Although as one of Formica Archonis's articles up there pointed out, perhaps they would change their tune about 'nothing to hide' if you asked them to strip naked and answer a series of deeply personal questions about their sex life.
Glad I could provide something of note.:) And I have actually asked people who "have nothing to hide" if they'd tell me their credit card numbers & SIN (SSN for Americans). When they refuse, I ask why they're hiding something. It shuts down the argument quite fast if the person has any level of personal insight, but most of the people with that as a mantra are policymakers who never let themselves get into a debate in the first place.
 

Monkeyman O'Brien

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Wow thats fucked up. I thought it was 2012, not fucking 1984.
When did the US get taken over by China?

But eh, don't effect me. I would just make a fake account since my real facebook is nothing but fucked up racist/sexist/dead baby jokes and pics of half nekkid wimmens.
 

Slayer_2

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Bymidew said:
Slayer_2 said:
Say you don't have an account? Make an alternate one? What if you really don't have one? So many ways this is BS.
Obviously, this is intended to weed out stupid people, not devious ones.
Apparently, only the most technologically illiterate people who willingly give out their information to any online account. Lie or make a fake account, that's the beauty of the internet.
 

Yoshisummons

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Aug 10, 2010
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Yea seriously what if you don't have a InYourFaceBook account? Will they be like "haha that's cute now give it to us."
 

evilneko

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I'd sooner delete my Facebook account than surrender it to an employer. I barely look at it anyway.
 

swolf

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Lurklen said:
This is insane, it would be like your boss asking to look through your mail or tap your phone.
Why would they do that when they can just get a summary from the goverment?
 

TheNumber1Zero

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Jul 23, 2009
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Irridium said:
What if I don't have a Facebook account?
My question exactly, among others.

Wouldn't be too worried about it though, seeing as they get my SSN already.
If telling them my non-existent Facebook Account's Password was considered a bigger potential threat/worry/bother than handing the dude running the local game store my SSN, I'd be rather worried about my paranoia priorities.

Still not quite right though I suppose, not that there's anything stopping somebody from quickly making a fake one a few days ahead of time, befriending 1 person you know followed by a ton or "People you may know", and letting your wall fill with Spam to simulate social usage of said profile.
One could even go the whole 9 yards by using a dump Email (All the places I apply ask for an Email specifically for contacting you, I assume they would do the same rather than using whatever one your Facebook is linked to).

All the same (I do love that phrase), I'm glad everywhere I've applied hasn't asked for such.
[sub][sub][sub]Wonder what they say if you tell them you have a Google+ Account instead?[/sub][/sub][/sub]
 

Valanthe

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You know, this article gave me an idea I might pass along to a friend I know who works in some kind of IT security job (It occurs to me that I'm actually not certain what his job entails...) If he's ever hiring, ask that person for their facebook password, if they oblige, don't hire them, as they are obviously not concerned enough about privacy to be working there. A bit off topic, perhaps, but it might be an interesting recruitment method.

As for this though, that's just stupid, I have nothing to hide but I'm not gonna let someone into my house without a damn good reason, or a warrant. And you sure as hell ain't getting my facebook password, because you don't need it.