Here’s an ingenious, if slightly disgusting, use of social media – companies in America who are looking to hire staff are reportedly demanding that job applicants hand over their Facebook passwords so that their lives can be rigorously examined. Classy stuff.It’s not unheard of for companies to take a look at the social media presence of potential employees – if they’ve made their accounts public, then it’s all fair game. But demanding that protected accounts are accessed so that companies can nose around in people’s private affairs is beyond the pale.
“Facebook takes your privacy seriously,” Facebook Chief Privacy Officer Erin Egan has said this week. “We’ll take action to protect the privacy and security of our users, whether by engaging policymakers or, where appropriate, by initiating legal action, including by shutting down applications that abuse their privileges.” It feels weird to be siding with Facebook on a matter of privacy but there you go.
The creepy, greedy social media giant added: “As a user, you shouldn’t be forced to share your private information and communications just to get a job. And as the friend of a user, you shouldn’t have to worry that your private information or communications will be revealed to someone you don’t know and didn’t intend to share with just because that user is looking for a job. That’s why we’ve made it a violation of Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities to share or solicit a Facebook password.” GO FACEBOOK!
So far, all reports of the diabolical password-requesting practice have been in the US of America, but if companies think they can get away with it, it’s surely only a matter of time before it happens in the UK. Who knew the 21st century was going to be as shitty as THIS?
[Arstechnica]
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