The article above, written by neville Hobson, discusses a story he found about a man, in Maryland, that had to disclose his facebook login information in his interview when he applied for a job at the state’s Department of Corrections (prison service). They told him this was for background checking purposes.
While I understand that employeers want to know who they are hiring in order to maintain the intgretity of their business, and that social media is a pretty good way of getting to know someone, but having full access to someone elses account (including messages and other privatized information) crosses the lines.
So I raise the questions: Is THIS ethical?, Does this intrude on personal rights?
I think this is unethical and invasive. Yes, if someone freely and willingly gave their information, that is their choice. However, by doing so, it puts that person's contacts at risk. Companies now are enforcing social media guidelines into their codes of ethics, that limit and restrain employees from unethcial behavior, but I wonder if the codes of ethics apply to this unethical behavior. No employeer asks for your e-mail user name AND PASSWORD. So how is this form of disclosing personal information of e-communication any different?
who is to say this comany, that is asking you to give them this information, is trustworthy after just an interview? ...and once you leave the job, they still have access to your profile.
There are other methods to conduct background checks. I think this is an invasion of privacy. Companies already have software that searchs potential employees on facebook, but having the individual give usernames and passwords is over-stepping boundaries between corporate & social media worlds.
This is a very scary thought! I say this with strict concern, not nessesarily for the fact that they could "check me out", but for the ethical background of this firm. My main question is, Who is to say that the person that has access to my facebook account in creditable and ethical himself. Can a person be trained to not "plant" information about yourself on your very own personal networking site, out of spite? I think that this not only speaks volumes for the firm's Human Resource department, but also for the firm's administrative team itself. As a consumer, I would be terrified to purchase anything from this company, affraid that they would keep my information on file for unethical use.
ReplyDeleteJust as this has been brought up infront of us now, the publicity that this firm has been given is mainly negative, therefore resulting in a negative manner on their brand image. I understand taking the procautions nessessary to have a productive and sucessful team of employees, but this is by far taking an extreme twist to conducting a background check on an individual.
I agree with both of you that this is a scary and invasive use of social media. I don't even think the employer could use the fact that he or she wants to get to know the potential employee through their facebook as an excuse. Any information that they would need to see is available for viewing on their public profile anyways.
ReplyDeleteFor me, this seems almost as bad as giving someone you don't know your credit card number and the pin code for it. I mean, this employer now has the capability to talk to your friends (posed as you), send private messages, and alter your information.
This "employer" just sounds like a creep to me. There is no professional need to have access to an employee's facebook password.