What would you do if your job interviewer asked you for the password of your Facebook account? Would you give it to him/her, risking the exposure of all your personal information, photos and more? Or would you refuse, risking the possibly of getting hired? This is a scenario that many individuals have had to deal with, but the big question is: Is this even legal?
Many job applicants, specifically college grads, have been warned to clean up/delete photos, videos and information on social networking sites like Facebook, in case potential employers decide to do some research. However, there are some companies that have taken this search to an entirely new level and now ask for Facebook and social media passwords so they can check out job applicants.
A few courts have ruled that such requests violate the federal Stored Communications Act, but the US Supreme Court has not addressed this issue. Although there is still legal uncertainty about this practice, in May, Maryland became the first state to prevent employers or would-be employers from asking individuals for their passwords to social media sites. Ten other states have bills that have been introduced.
"It's an invasion of privacy for private employers to insist on looking at people's private Facebook pages as a condition of employment or consideration in an application process," said Catherine Crump in an ABCnews article, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney, on the ACLU's website. "People are entitled to their private lives."
Bradley Shear, a social media lawyer said that updated legislation is needed to solve this problem.
"Until someone says no, you can't do it, they are going to do it -- that's why the legislation is important. This legislation is needed on a state and a national level. It's that simple."
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