Employer Facebook Password Requests Suspended 209
Hugh Pickens writes "The Washington Post reports that Maryland's Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services has suspended a roughly year-old practice of asking prospective employees to voluntarily divulge their user names and passwords to social media Web sites such as Facebook. In a statement, the department said requests for user names and passwords had been voluntary, and had not been taken into account when evaluating job applicants. Nonetheless, 'in light of these concerns raised by the ACLU and because this is a newly emerging area in the law, the department has suspended the process of asking for social media information for 45 days to review the procedure and to make sure it is being used consistently and appropriately.'" We covered this story back when the ACLU took the case.
A better policy.... (Score:5, Interesting)
Here is how I would implement a policy like that. I would ask, all applicants for their facebook username and password up front.
Then, everyone who gave it to me, would get a polite letter informing them that they did not get the job because they so easily violated the TOS of facebook, with whom they had a standing agreement before they applied with us. Thus, there is no way that we could trust them with access credentials on our system.
You failed the test, you are the weakest link, goodbye.
Re:Bullshit statement (do they think we're stupid? (Score:3, Interesting)
Lets face it, They say it has no bearing on the process but we all know it is BS.
Heck, 20 years ago I worked for Pinkerton. The hiring process had a list of "Optional" questions. Things like
What church do you attend?
Do you believe in the second coming of Christ?
Are you gay?
Are you the type of person to drop the hanky?
etc, etc
They make sure to state that it did not effect the hiring process, however, those that did not answer the questions were let go within 30 days of being hired. For me, I was asked to work 2 back to back 12 hour shifts, then dismissed for a dirty uniform.
Lets face it, if they have the information they will use it!
Re:Sure! (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Bullshit statement (do they think we're stupid? (Score:3, Interesting)
They're hiring people to guard people who have either fucked up, either big time, like murder, or small time, like shoplifting. Either way, most of those people are going to get out eventually, and whether or not they fuck up again depends partly on how they are treated during their time in prison. Do they learn job skills that expand their economic opportunities? Do they learn the social and behavior skills to get along?
Prison guards are part of the process of rehabilitation. In a sane society, the job would pay six figures and require an advanced degree in criminology (plus extensive martial arts training).