Comments on: Are Passwords to Applicants Social Networking Sites Fair Game? http://blog.employeescreen.com/2009/06/19/are-password-to-applicants-social-networking-sites-fair-game/ Background Checks Pre-Employment Screening Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:55:12 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: Investigator to Look Into Password Disclosure Policy http://blog.employeescreen.com/2009/06/19/are-password-to-applicants-social-networking-sites-fair-game/comment-page-1/#comment-3962 Investigator to Look Into Password Disclosure Policy Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:23:32 +0000 http://blog.employeescreen.com/?p=2131#comment-3962 [...] this story broke, we have been all over it like bees to honey.  And we will continue to follow it in anticipation [...] [...] this story broke, we have been all over it like bees to honey.  And we will continue to follow it in anticipation [...]

]]> By: Bozeman, MT Suspends Objectionable Background Check Policy http://blog.employeescreen.com/2009/06/19/are-password-to-applicants-social-networking-sites-fair-game/comment-page-1/#comment-3942 Bozeman, MT Suspends Objectionable Background Check Policy Tue, 23 Jun 2009 01:31:26 +0000 http://blog.employeescreen.com/?p=2131#comment-3942 [...] Bozeman, MT was sufficiently bombarded with phone calls and emails objecting to their practice of asking job applicants to supply user names and passwords to their social networking sites after the media and bloggers excoriated them. The city announced [...] [...] Bozeman, MT was sufficiently bombarded with phone calls and emails objecting to their practice of asking job applicants to supply user names and passwords to their social networking sites after the media and bloggers excoriated them. The city announced [...]

]]> By: Jon Hyman http://blog.employeescreen.com/2009/06/19/are-password-to-applicants-social-networking-sites-fair-game/comment-page-1/#comment-3937 Jon Hyman Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:06:54 +0000 http://blog.employeescreen.com/?p=2131#comment-3937 Talk about over-reaching. If I'm an applicant, I understand that what I voluntarily put out on the web is potentially fair game for an employer to use to judge me a potential employee. But - I also know that there are reasonable steps I can take to protect some of that information, such as only making my Facebook profile available to friends. This practice seems like an extreme invasion of privacy. It would make me second-guess my decision to work for this employer. If this employer is going to go that far in monitoring me before I'm hired, what are they going to do after I'm hired? Tell me how many times I can go to the bathroom? Count how many minutes I spend getting a cup of coffee? Charge me for the sugar packet? Talk about over-reaching. If I’m an applicant, I understand that what I voluntarily put out on the web is potentially fair game for an employer to use to judge me a potential employee. But – I also know that there are reasonable steps I can take to protect some of that information, such as only making my Facebook profile available to friends.

This practice seems like an extreme invasion of privacy. It would make me second-guess my decision to work for this employer. If this employer is going to go that far in monitoring me before I’m hired, what are they going to do after I’m hired? Tell me how many times I can go to the bathroom? Count how many minutes I spend getting a cup of coffee? Charge me for the sugar packet?

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