People Taking Notice Of Employers Asking Recruits For Facebook Account Info
It finally looks like we are going to see some legislation making it illegal for employers to ask employees and possible new hires for their social networking login information:
If the thought of being asked by a prospective employer for your Facebook and Twitter login credentials makes you uneasy, you're not alone. Senator Richard Blumenthal has announced that he's working on a new bill that would prohibit the requests, pointing to the ban on workplace polygraphs as justification for outlawing the practice. The bill would also be structured to take the needs of existing employees into account, although Blumenthal says he's still examining the details.
Speaking to Politico, the senator described the requests as an "unreasonable invasion of privacy for people seeking work," adding that the bill would be ready "in the very near future." The senator is aiming to go beyond proposed legislation in Maryland and Illinois, claiming the practices under scrutiny "go beyond the borders of individual states and call for a national solution." It's worth noting that it's against Facebook's terms of service to give your password to someone else, and while the Department of Justice apparently believes violating these terms is a federal crime, it has said to Congress that it won't prosecute violations
Not only that, but Facebook is also not happy with the practice at all:
Facebook has weighed in on a practice by some businesses asking employees or job applicants for their passwords to the popular social-media site.
