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Don't Bother Asking for Facebook Passwords

BY Anna Hickman
May 28, 2012

Workplace water coolers are abuzz with recent reports of employers requiring employees or applicants to provide logon information for their social media sites. The ACLU has taken a stand against the practice, and employees and applicants alike seem horrified at the possibility of being required to turn over Facebook passwords as a condition of employment. State and local legislators have also taken notice, proposing a flurry of legislation aimed at curtailing the practice. And employers are now questioning whether they should continue asking for access or give up the potential information goldmine that the sites have to offer.

The uproar began with an Associated Press report, reprinted in newspapers throughout the country, about employers asking applicants to “friend” a hiring manager or to log on to their Facebook account during an interview. See Manuel Valdes and Shannon McFarland, Employers Ask Job Seekers for Facebook Passwords, Assoc. Press, Mar. 20, 2012.

Days later, Facebook responded to the report with a strongly worded statement condemning employers for requesting Facebook passwords because:

[a]s a user, you shouldn”t be forced to share your private information and communications just to get a job. And as the friend of a user, you shouldn”t have to worry that your private information or communications will be revealed to someone you don”t know and didn”t intend to share with just because that user is looking for a job.

Protecting Your Passwords and Your Privacy, www.facebook.com/notes/facebook-and-privacy/protecting-your-passwords-and-your-privacy/326598317390057 (Mar. 23, 2012).

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