by crd!<

Question by pragmatism_rules: Is it ethical/legal to require that your prospective employees give you access to their online journals?
My question relates to this article:

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090619/ap_on_hi_te/us_internet_background_checks_3

“HELENA, Mont. – Job applicants with the city of Bozeman are finding that their private Internet discussions and pictures may not be so private after all.

“The city is asking job seekers for the user names and passwords to Internet social networking or Web groups they belong too. The decision is sparking an outcry from those who say the policy goes way too far.”

What do you think? Is it fair for a company to ask that you give it access to your personal public and private journals even if the information isn’t made available to the public at large? Is it enough that they just read your public entries or can they demand that you “friend them” so they can read more intimate postings?

And can they demand your password so you have no online privacy at all? And who is responsible for any potential abuse if your account is mishandled (say an employee used it to spam someone else) and the company had the account password? And what about those webpages that say it is a violation for you to share your account and/or password? Who is legally liable if your account becomes compromised or deleted because of the company’s actions?

And what comes next? Can they also demand your password so they can read all your email and instant messages? And if this is acceptable, where is the line to be drawn? Can they now ask to read your private diary (book, not internet), all your mail, and view all your private photographs? Can they demand to know what magazines and newspapers you read or subscribe to?

And what if the person says no? Although this organization says that they will not hold it against a person, what if they have two equally qualified potential employees…one who says yes, and the other says no. How can you ever be sure that you weren’t hired because you retained your right to privacy?

Finally, where exactly does a person’s privacy begin and the company’s right to assess their potential employee end? Has this company gone too far? Tell me what you think! And do you think there should be laws to prohibit this practice?

Best answer:

Answer by Yishka Bedishka
We have an Aryan, we best run. I feel the ovens being lit as we speak

Answer by Dave R
The strange part is that there will always, always be a handful of people, (and often that handful is actually quite large), who will believe the rationalizations for the kind of corporate/government behavior described in the article, and indignantly defend such demands.

I say, “Let them have those jobs. If they want to be slaves, then that’s their problem.”

Where it gets difficult is when society becomes so controlled that the only alternative to submission is starvation and homelessness.

Answer by Hughey Kablooie
Not at all. This is certainly not an okay thing to require from employees.

Answer by Jamie
I’m not sure if it’s funny or serious.

http://montanasnewsstation.com/Global/story.asp?S=10551414

“So we do those types of investigations to make sure the people that we hire have the highest moral character and are a good fit for the City..”

When you sign up.. are you not instructed NOT TO SHARE YOUR PASSWORD WITH ANYONE?

So, people of high moral character violate the terms of service with impunity as well as invade personal privacy?

I’d be ok with an open society, in fact, I’d be in favor of it.. but it’s a two way street.

Does an employee have the right to demand the complete salaries of all of his or her co-workers along with a complete tabulation of expenses made by the company?

Fair is fair, is it not?

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