Employers asking for Facebook login/password (employees)

[Ellis Bell]

Originally Posted by Ceece

True. When you publish anything to "the internet" you must assume that someday, somewhere, someone might see it. All the privacy settings in the world can't stop it if it's recorded somewhere that you can't control. You can burn a diary or rip up a letter but you can't get to the servers.

I was a management information systems major in college at one time thinking of going into it as a career. Computer Science is a must class to take for the degree. In that class, one of the first things learned and stressed is that the Internet is volatile information. In that the information stored can be edited, deleted, manipulated and yes, deleted.

In English grammar, the word Internet is always capitalized meaning it is a place.

As you said, we do not have access to the servers and at any time the 'power' that services those servers can be lost. Yes, they have a back up, however, the powers that be could just one day say...enough, we're pulling the plug on the whole mess. Then where would all the bloggers be, the companies with all their information be...think about it.

Bill Gates was DOD. He took his knowledge one step further. No he did not create the Internet, he just made sure every home had a computer in it.

However, I remember the days before the Internet. My computer was for the keeping of home records as in balancing my check book made easy. The Internet and email, came as an after thought. In fact, like I said, if the Internet died tomorrow, I would not be sad in the least. In fact...stamps to mail letters might save the post office from closing. Advertisement, back to the printed press where it belongs and TV, radio....employment would be back on the rise and no longer would I have to make sure my resume was 'word search' compliant!

I cried when y2k turned out to be a hoax, but then I knew it was a hoax because a computer is a great big calculating machine that does what...records each key stroke and calculates. During the time of the y2k scare I thought, well that would put cashiers who know how to count cash back and keep hand written receipts back to work...

Hint to the wise though. If ever any one thinks what they put on the Internet is private, it isn't, not even your bank records. If at any time any one becomes uncomfortable sharing...then stop sharing...again, problem solved.

[Magritte25]

Just an FYI, but I've noticed since the latest profile changes occurred at FB, anyone's wall is visible, with different degrees of information shown. I'm talking about non-friends here. I haven't figured out how to change those settings.

Also, I know for a fact how difficult it is to completely delete one's FB. That's a scary notion.

[Strel]

Originally Posted by jujulu

And you are probably also one of those who won't use EZ-Pass in your vehicle because you are afraid of "big brother" tracking you...

I'd be real careful making guesses if I were you.

Facebook is more efficient than email. Most people already have Facebook, whether you like it or not. That makes it the perfect vehicle for seamless global interconnectivity.

It does not matter whether I like it or not, just like your rather shortsighted opinion doesn't matter either.

Mark Zuckerburg is not interested in prying into your personal business or stealing your data. You don't understand what he's about.

Oh well maybe it isn't HIM I'm worried about, eh?

Maybe when you are old enough to have kids or have spent some time in the real world you will have some idea of why I might be concerned.

[Strel]

Originally Posted by nononsenseguy

Oh, really?

I can read the Constitution:

"Congress <addressed to Congress> shall make no law <says Congress cannot make a law> respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof <is this referring to government entities?>; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble<this is the part the 'Occupiers' missed>, and to petition the Government for a redress of grieveances <this is still the same sentence — I don't see where it has shifted from talking about the right of the people to the right of 'government entities>."

But maybe you can point us to some other official founding document that says only 'government entities' have the right of free speech.

I should also add that the 'Bill of Rights' itself was written to establish in law, the rights of the people, not the 'rights' of government.

I think your education must be lacking.

LOL

Oh my.

[chickenfriedbananas]

Originally Posted by Ceece

Don't confuse the OP with the very real practice of an employer searching for you on FB. That's legit, and some people have paid the price for that too.

I have no problem with employers doing FB checks. An employer should be able to collect any information about a potential employee that is in the public domain, and if you're posting publicly on FB or on a blog that is easily indexed and searchable on Google or Bing, then that's fair game. But when someone makes a Facebook page private, that's an invitation-only website, and it's not really public. It might have a following of one's friends, but it's a limited following, and people should have some discretion as to who sees their material. Now, having said that, if one FB 'friend' happens to take a screen shot of someone's idea of a joke and they re-post it somewhere else on the Internet, that's also fair game. Individuals need to think twice about what they post, and to whom they post.

But demanding that I give up private passwords is unethical, and I think it's also borderline illegal. States, federal courts, and perhaps congress will have the last word on how far employers go, but the average person isn't going to take that lying down. If there's no legislative relief, well then, I guess it'll be left to Mark Zuckerberg and Google to defend themselves, because people will be a lot more cautious about their use of the Internet thereafter.

[chickenfriedbananas]

Originally Posted by Reptoid Humidian

I regard any employer that would make this demand as a TRAITOR TO PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES and an ENEMY COMBATANT who is trying to subvert the constitution. And you know what the penalty for that is.

Sadly, there is no constitutional provision that bars an employer from doing this. An employer-employee relationship is a private matter, which is not really covered under 1st Amendment protection. The 1st Amendment merely prevents government from taking away individual liberties, but it doesn't prevent employers from using a wide variety of means to screen employees.

It's up to the courts, congress, and the states to decide just how far companies can go. I think there's going to be a groundswell of opposition to this in the years to come. I don't think most people have a problem with companies Googling or checking someone's publicly-available FB page, but demanding passwords is giving employers too much power over one's individual privacy. I don't think people are going to stand for that for too long.

[Reptoid Humidian]

I think they deserve the Les Grossman response:

"Now, take a step back and literally --------"

I'm not allowed to say the rest. You'll just have to look up Les Grossman on YouTube.

It's well worth it, believe me!

[Clark Park]

I would never divulge that information to an employer.

[summers73]

Hide it from search. Claim you don't have one. Never post on a public facebook page. Profit.

[Zyngawf]

If mine has no pictures of me and my name is a common one how would they ever know I have a facebook page?