Montana job seekers asked for Facebook, MySpace logins
By Amy Farnsworth | 06.19.09
As if job hunting weren’t tough enough already, job seekers looking for a position with the City of Bozeman, Mont., have been thrown an application curve ball.
The city of Bozeman has requested that candidates provide their username and passwords for social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter. The application asks that candidates “list any and all current personal or business Web sites, web pages, or memberships on any Internet-based chat rooms, social clubs, or forums, to include, but not limited to: Facebook, Google, Yahoo, YouTube.com, MySpace, etc,” reports The Associated Press.
The city told the AP that they have requested the password and username information to verify employee information to conduct background checks, and that the city will not use any information against potential candidates nor will they disregard applicants who choose not to submit their login information.
More recruiters are using the Internet to conduct background checks on potential employees. In a September 2008 CareerBuilder survey of 31,000 employers, 22 percent said they use social networking sites to evaluate candidates and 9 percent said they planned on using social networks to screen candidates.
The new job screening process is drawing criticism from the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana. In the AP story, Amy Cannata of the ACLU of Montana, says the procedure is similar “to them saying they want to look at your love letters and your family photos.” She says “the policy certainly crosses the privacy line.”
Since the application policy has been released, Bozeman City Attorney Greg Sullivan said in The Daily Chronicle that the policy may change – instead of asking applicants for login information, applicants would be required to “friend” officials on Facebook so the city could see the individual’s profile, for example.
Still, the ACLU is concerned that hiring managers with access to personal information such as one’s religious preference or relationship status, could negatively impact a person’s shot at obtaining a job offer.
Update: After a lot of chatter and criticism last week, the city of Bozeman, Mont., decided to waive the request for social networking usernames and passwords from job applicants. For more information, read the follow-up article in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.
What do you think? Would you provide a potential employer with your Facebook password and username? Tell us on Twitter.
<< Man jailed for copying ‘The Love Guru,’ pretty much the worst movie ever | MainComments
2. cybersaur | 06.19.09
The city employees would be violating the terms of service for the various sites by logging in using credentials other than their own.
3. Len | 06.19.09
This is completely inappropriate. They want to know “memberships on any Internet-based … social clubs”???
What if we skip the internet for a moment and ask whether it is OK for the government of Bozeman, Montana to ask about all social club memberships. What if I belong to a Jewish group but the hiring manager is dead set on only working with Christians? What if I’m in the closet and belong to a gay support group but the hiring manager is a homophobe. What if I belong to a Republican fund raising social club, but the hiring manager wants to favor Democrats.
This is just so full of opportunity for gross abuse I can’t imagine it will hold up.
4. Scott Williamson | 06.19.09
In a previous post, Melinda considered the legality - I would think it was legal. It’s fairly routine for private employers to ask for their workers to sign over rights to them that we don’t sign over to the government: random drug testing (eg, without probable cause), the right to search your person or your car on what they determine to be justification (cf. the Fourth Amendment), limits on political and religious speech, etc. The popular saying is that you can always quit right? That is if you have an independant source of wealth…. The truth is that until someone challenges these rules and it is ruled illegal, then it is legal - whether or not it’s right or moral or just. Maybe instead of Web 2.0, we need Union 2.0.
5. Heidi Kirk | 06.19.09
I can understand why employers would like to see social networking sites, people often let their guard down and an employer can see the good, the bad, and the other about potential candidates. Nevertheless, the potential for discrimination based on gender, race, religion, etcetera, does exist because employers will have access to applicants personal information……the information it is illegal for them to ask for.
6. Stormblazer | 06.19.09
Asking for not only the profile, but the actual login information is way out of line. I can understand, though am uncomfortable with, the mere accessing of the profiles. But asking for data like this is absurd.
7. Les Rosen | 06.20.09
Although this is an evolving area of law, the City really needs to tread very carefully in this area. First and foremost, they are opening themselves up to discrimination claims if the social network site reveals an applicant’s membership in a protected group, such as race, nationality, ethnicity, religious afflation, marital status, physical condition, etc. This is especially an issue when asking for this information in the application stage where there can be an inference that such factors were used illegally to screen out applicants unfairly. There are a number of other issues as well. For an examination of some of the reasons the use of social network site can be dangerous, see: http://www.esrcheck.com/articles/Caution-Using-Search-Engines-MySpace-or-Facebook-for-Hiring-Decisions-May-Be-Hazardous-to-Your-Business.php
8. Mr. E | 06.20.09
Most employment law is very clear about asking for personal information during an interview. You can’t ask someone if they plan on having kids or if they like the Yankees. You can only ask questions related to job qualifications. If they are asking for this information for the application, then it is analogous to a written interview with the same laws applying.
The town is treading on thin ice. Someone could apply and not provide the information. If they don’t get the job, they could sue the town. If not for the usual greed motivation, then to create some case law to prevent this from continuing. But the town will still have to pay to defend themselves. The town’s legal council should be replaced.
9. Chuck | 06.20.09
Scott -
Is the City of Bozeman a private employer?
Please think as carefully about the answer to that question as you should have thought when you were writing your comment.
Ta!
11. Phil Stevens | 06.20.09
Scott -
It is most emphatically illegal — the city’s use of private individuals’ login credentials would constitute fraud. And yes, there are laws which cover this behavior.
12. Hugo | 06.21.09
I can’t fathom under what conditions they have a right to ask for a password. It seems there is some wiggle room in the law for using network sites (as that information is sometimes public information) to do background checks, but asking for a password is probably illegal. It is not an exaggeration to say that is the same as asking for someone’s bank account and PIN so as to do a background check. You can view profiles online (with varying degrees of access depending on the users privacy settings) as is, and anything the user makes not viewable is within their legal rights.
I do not enjoy companies using these sites for background checks for multiple reasons. One of course is privacy concerns. But outside of that, if you search for any given individual, you are likely to find at least one other, if not multiple other, users with similar name, address, etc. An employer may then choose not to hire someone on a mistaken identity and there is no recourse.
I agree with Scott, we need Union 2.0
13. O z | 06.22.09
This is an outrageous invasion of privacy. It is an abuse of the power of the businesses that are providing employment of those inneed of a job. All they really need is to be added to the friends list. This is terrible.
14. Lex | 06.26.09
It’s scary what employers/government will do. I think it’s about time we all looked VERY carefully at how, where and when our information is being put to use. While we may be happy for the government to have our information now for (on-the-surface) very legitimate reasons e.g. security - will we feel as comfortable with a future government having that same info. not all governments are benign and serve the people. Once they have the info - you can’t get it back. The thin edge of the wedge went in a long time ago and privacy rights are being blatantly ignored in the name of all sorts of claims. Asking for passwords (which you can refuse to do) or even worse forcing people to ‘friend’ their employers breachs all privacy rights - you might as well invite them to search your house! How long will it be before you would lose your job if you didn’t give out all your presonal details. And the claim of ‘if you have a problem, then you must have something to hide’ may well be heard yet. Beware, I’ve heard Facebook now own your information including pictures, and it’s very difficult to remove your account. Big Brother IS watching!
15. Maxine Laswson | 06.26.09
Speaking from the UK on this point I believe that this is so wrong it is almost unbeliveable. would they search through my home? plus I can certainly control what I post but I cannot control what my friends will post. So say if one of them was too swear on my page etc etc I cannot necessary remove that comment from view before a poitential employer see’s it. Plus what happened to a work/life balance I use facebook to speak to my family back in london (i live in northern ireland) and to catch up, thats nothing to do with my work! However my bigest fear would be people who are in the right position to access this information would either loose it (UK goverment have been known to leave CD’s with people child support on the train!) or misuse this information, its all personal information and should be kept as such, they wouldnt ask for my banking username and password so why ask for my facebook?
Trackbacks/Pingbacks
1. Montana job seekers asked for Facebook, MySpace logins,City wants job applicants to turn over Facebook user names and …,'Most people find jobs through their own networking',Job networking–hybrid is the way to go, | 06.19.09
2. Montana job seekers asked for Facebook, MySpace logins (The Christian Science Monitor) - Orkutadda.com - Orkut scraps, orkut graphics, orkut, scraps, html, graphics, glitter, codes, tools, layouts, profiles, scrapbook | 06.19.09
3. Montana job seekers asked for Facebook, MySpace logins | csmonitor.com | Job Search Daily | 06.19.09
Leave a Comment
We do not publish all comments, and we do not publish comments immediately. The comments feature is a forum to discuss the ideas in our stories. Constructive debate - even pointed disagreement - is welcome, but personal attacks on other commenters are not, and will not be published.
Tip: Do not write a novel. Keep it short. We will not publish lengthy comments. Come up with your own statements. This is not a place to cut and paste an email you received. If we recognize it as such, we won't post it.
Please do not post any comments that are commercial in nature or that violate copyrights.
Finally, we will not publish any comments that we regard as obscene, defamatory, or intended to incite violence.
1. Melinda Luckie2719 | 06.19.09
I question whether this is legal or not. It definitely crosses the privacy line. What next would they like to review the text messages on your cell phone? I think simply typing in a possible applicants name in the find people section offered for these social networking websites would have been sufficient and wouldn’t have crossed the lines. With those websites each subscriber has the option to make their profile private to only allow people they approve to view their personal information. Once again if there is something you don’t want people to know don’t post it on the internet.