Job Applicants Asked for Facebook Passwords

[Screamarie]

...................*sigh* You know, if it weren't for the fact that you pretty much have to have the internet these days I'd swear off it all together.

And that whole "privacy is for pedo's" is total crap. In a world where you can be fired for a single picture of you drinking an apple daiquairi at a wedding, there are many reasons for privacy. And just because you're not doing something illegal, doesn't mean you don't want everyone to know you recently got put on lexapro for a minor disorder.

I have a facebook account and I have it somewhat public....but it doesn't say where I live and I don't do that whole crap where facebook tells everyone where you are cause that's just stupidity.

 

[Something Amyss]

Why the employer would even need such information is debateable as well, are we sure this wasn't just another front for a scam like so many other 'wonderous easy jobs' you can find online are?

Really? Is it really that hard to figure out why employers would want your social network access while determining if they want to employ you?

 

[Something Amyss]

Then can I have your social security # Mr McMullen?

Well, on an an application, you would have to give that....

 

[Kopikatsu]

One step towards making the internet a decent place to visit.

 

[Archemetis]

So by McMullen's standards we should all live in big brother style glass houses and open all our indescretions to any and all who want to nosey around in them.

As for the topic at hand, the hell? The sharing of account information is so illegal that all social netowrking sites or indeed any service with required usernames and passwords have constant warnings about the dangers of sharing account info there are things you don't want any, even potential employers have o right to our personal information, beyond the law side it's just a common courtesy to respect an individual's privacy.

What they're doing is wrong and hope it's brought to the immediate attention of the appropraite channels.

 

[Something Amyss]

And that whole "privacy is for pedo's" is total crap. In a world where you can be fired for a single picture of you drinking an apple daiquairi at a wedding, there are many reasons for privacy.

And that's the crux of the matter. Both why they want the password and why people want privacy.

 

[latenightapplepie]

Spoiler: My reactions

What the hell? This is fucking dumb.

 

[Iron Mal]

Really? Is it really that hard to figure out why employers would want your social network access while determining if they want to employ you?

Enlighten me then as to why it is exactly that just being allowed to view your account isn't enough and that they vitally require access to your personal online account?

There isn't really a reason for that, being able to look at your Facebook or Myspace I understand (it gives your employer a bit of insight into the individual they're possably going to have working for them) but this reasoning doesn't really extend towards allowing them to actually log into your account.

 

[FoolKiller]

I wonder if anyone just gave them the info and then went on their iPhone and changed the password.

 

[Kopikatsu]

Really? Is it really that hard to figure out why employers would want your social network access while determining if they want to employ you?

Enlighten me then as to why it is exactly that just being allowed to view your account isn't enough and that they vitally require access to your personal online account?

There isn't really a reason for that, being able to look at your Facebook or Myspace I understand (it gives your employer a bit of insight into the individual they're possably going to have working for them) but this reasoning doesn't really extend towards allowing them to actually log into your account.

Many people lock their information so that only friends can view them, and they want to look into your private messages to make sure that you aren't participating in any illegal...whatevers.

I can think of many reasons why transparency is a good thing. (The primary reason being that it would save lives).

Anyone care to put forth an argument that's pro-privacy? And no, 'Privacy is a human right' is not a good argument. You have to explain why it's worth letting people die over.

 

[GeoFlux]

So it's the police department that have done this? The applicants that refuse haven't really got too much choice then

Well, it's easy to get around. Either shut down your facebook in advance, or deny having one and then run to shut it down, get hired, and then put it back up.

Yeah I was thinking that but you can't do it before they go on, otherwise they could fire/not hire you for lying to them.
I mean if you say no or give them the wrong password and they find out.

 

[Sewer Rat]

Yeah no, I could understand wanting to see my profile, but to get hold of my account completely... no. I only got the damn thing to keep in touch with friends, and it would be bad enough having them reading my wall posts trying to find something incriminating, what this would let them do is let them shuffle through your private messages. No sorry, I do not feel it is necessary for you to go through my messages between my friends and family. Frankly, I find it ironic that it is a police department that demands it because clearly this cannot be legal.

 

[Togs]

Really? Is it really that hard to figure out why employers would want your social network access while determining if they want to employ you?

Enlighten me then as to why it is exactly that just being allowed to view your account isn't enough and that they vitally require access to your personal online account?

There isn't really a reason for that, being able to look at your Facebook or Myspace I understand (it gives your employer a bit of insight into the individual they're possably going to have working for them) but this reasoning doesn't really extend towards allowing them to actually log into your account.

Many people lock their information so that only friends can view them, and they want to look into your private messages to make sure that you aren't participating in any illegal...whatevers.

I can think of many reasons why transparency is a good thing. (The primary reason being that it would save lives).

Anyone care to put forth an argument that's pro-privacy? And no, 'Privacy is a human right' is not a good argument. You have to explain why it's worth letting people die over.

Oh god another Escapist brand iconoclast.

"Transparency would save lives"- care to explain that one?

 

[Kopikatsu]

Really? Is it really that hard to figure out why employers would want your social network access while determining if they want to employ you?

Enlighten me then as to why it is exactly that just being allowed to view your account isn't enough and that they vitally require access to your personal online account?

There isn't really a reason for that, being able to look at your Facebook or Myspace I understand (it gives your employer a bit of insight into the individual they're possably going to have working for them) but this reasoning doesn't really extend towards allowing them to actually log into your account.

Many people lock their information so that only friends can view them, and they want to look into your private messages to make sure that you aren't participating in any illegal...whatevers.

I can think of many reasons why transparency is a good thing. (The primary reason being that it would save lives).

Anyone care to put forth an argument that's pro-privacy? And no, 'Privacy is a human right' is not a good argument. You have to explain why it's worth letting people die over.

Oh god another Escapist brand iconoclast.

"Transparency would save lives"- care to explain that one?

Er...how does the word iconoclast fit into this situation? There is no religious...anything being discussed.

Anywho, it would help stop things like this for one: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2019409/Joshua-Davies-16-dared-Facebook-friends-murder-Rebecca-Aylward.html

Many of the groups taking part in the London Riots used social networking sites to plan where to go smash up next. Not sure on the deaths/injuries/monetary damage caused on that one, but I imagine monetary damage was pretty large, if nothing else.

 

[Iron Mal]

Many people lock their information so that only friends can view them, and they want to look into your private messages to make sure that you aren't participating in any illegal...whatevers.

I can think of many reasons why transparency is a good thing. (The primary reason being that it would save lives).

Anyone care to put forth an argument that's pro-privacy? And no, 'Privacy is a human right' is not a good argument. You have to explain why it's worth letting people die over.

So let me get this straight, the reason they want to have access to my account would be so they can scroll through my private messages to make sure I'm not an axe-murderer/peadophile/drug dealer/anti-christ?

Isn't that what a police background check is for?

Privacy is a human right, human rights being violated is a pretty damn good arguement to not do something (just as it would be a self-explanitory reason not to do a lot of things).

This isn't like checking to see if someone is carrying a knife or a firearm on them, this is poking through people's private messages (most of which I can guarantee you are just idle chatter between friends and family) you aren't saving lives with this (nice try at overdramatising it though) you're just being nosey.

But let me humour you, let's say that the fact that violating a human right isn't enough on it's own and that there are no good pro-privacy arguements, how exactly does this save lives and make it worth the breach of human rights?

 

[BreakfastMan]

Many people lock their information so that only friends can view them, and they want to look into your private messages to make sure that you aren't participating in any illegal...whatevers.

I can think of many reasons why transparency is a good thing. (The primary reason being that it would save lives).

Anyone care to put forth an argument that's pro-privacy? And no, 'Privacy is a human right' is not a good argument. You have to explain why it's worth letting people die over.

1: How would letting your employer look at what you are talking about with your friends save lives? I can see if this was a police investigation or something, but this isn't. It is an employer looking into someone's personal info.

2: Making everything transparent would make people die too. Remember the Arab Spring, and how everything was coordinated with social media? What if someone in a gang wants to provide valuable information to the police, either anonymously or privately, to avoid being killed by the gang? To steal your own words, explain why transparency is worth letting people die over.

3: Privacy exists for a reason: too keep things private. What if I want to not let my potentially embarrassing purchasing decision be displayed on the internet for all to see? What if I want to hide what my Christmas shopping from my family?

 

[Kopikatsu]

Many people lock their information so that only friends can view them, and they want to look into your private messages to make sure that you aren't participating in any illegal...whatevers.

I can think of many reasons why transparency is a good thing. (The primary reason being that it would save lives).

Anyone care to put forth an argument that's pro-privacy? And no, 'Privacy is a human right' is not a good argument. You have to explain why it's worth letting people die over.

So let me get this straight, the reason they want to have access to my account would be so they can scroll through my private messages to make sure I'm not an axe-murderer/peadophile/drug dealer/anti-christ?

Isn't that what a police background check is for?

Privacy is a human right, human rights being violated is a pretty damn good arguement to not do something (just as it would be a self-explanitory reason not to do a lot of things).

This isn't like checking to see if someone is carrying a knife or a firearm on them, this is poking through people's private messages (most of which I can guarantee you are just idle chatter between friends and family) you aren't saving lives with this (nice try at overdramatising it though) you're just being nosey.

But let me humour you, let's say that the fact that violating a human right isn't enough on it's own and that there are no good pro-privacy arguements, how exactly does this save lives and make it worth the breach of human rights?

Consider it part of the background check. What you do in private reveals more about you as a person than anything you do in public.

What makes privacy a human right? Who decided that? What purpose does privacy serve? What benefits are there to privacy?

As I said, 'It's a human right, end all' is a piss poor argument.

Edit: Nothing is self-explanatory. 'Just because' is an even worse argument than 'It's a human right, end all' is.

 

[winter2]

Really? Is it really that hard to figure out why employers would want your social network access while determining if they want to employ you?

Enlighten me then as to why it is exactly that just being allowed to view your account isn't enough and that they vitally require access to your personal online account?

There isn't really a reason for that, being able to look at your Facebook or Myspace I understand (it gives your employer a bit of insight into the individual they're possably going to have working for them) but this reasoning doesn't really extend towards allowing them to actually log into your account.

Many people lock their information so that only friends can view them, and they want to look into your private messages to make sure that you aren't participating in any illegal...whatevers.

I can think of many reasons why transparency is a good thing. (The primary reason being that it would save lives).

Anyone care to put forth an argument that's pro-privacy? And no, 'Privacy is a human right' is not a good argument. You have to explain why it's worth letting people die over.

I am not sure if you are trolling or not....