Your Facebook password should be none of your boss' business • Hacker News Board

Re: Your Facebook password should be none of your boss' business

#11

Post by brown9-2 » Thu, Mar 22, 2012, 2:21 PM UTC

jiggy2011 wrote: post #8

brown9-2 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems that if you were not hired after the company viewed this private information, it would be very hard for the employer to avoid claims of discrimination based on what they could have seen.

as far as I know most of the groups that it is illegal to discriminate against would not require facebook access to confirm membership of.

I don't see how your marriage status, parental status or sexual preferences could otherwise be disclosed during a regular job screen process.

However, the employer doesn't have to "confirm membership" of any status in order to open themselves up to credible legal action. All they need to do is give the impression that they were given some information about protected status, and their "no hire" decision becomes easily suspect.

It would be hard in a litigation setting for the employer, after viewing someone's Facebook data, to be able to cite and document exactly which pieces of information influenced their decision, and which pieces of (discriminatory) information did not influence their decision.

This isn't something that a smart employer would want to open themselves up to. It seems like the actual cases cited have all been rather limited in scope (checking prison guards for gang affiliation).

Re: Your Facebook password should be none of your boss' business

#12

Post by mathiasben » Thu, Mar 22, 2012, 2:24 PM UTC

Is there anything in facebook's terms of service that would permit their users to share login info with third parties?

Re: Your Facebook password should be none of your boss' business

#13

Post by eru » Thu, Mar 22, 2012, 2:24 PM UTC

jonnathanson wrote: post #10

lukejduncan wrote: post #5

Is this really becoming common? I agree that it's absolutely wrong, but, every headline I've seen gives the impression this is becoming a common practice. I've never heard of it actually happening anywhere but the few cases cited in the articles.

The job market is still pretty weak, and many sectors have not recovered at all. So, unfortunately, employers still hold all the bargaining chips. For a lot of job seekers, it may be pretty hard to tell a potential employer to go fuck itself if it makes this sort of request. A lot of people aren't in the position to be picky about employment right now. Especially young people, who are just starting out in the job mar…

I wonder whether people without an account will start having to create one, just to enable the HR drone to tick the checkbox.

Re: Your Facebook password should be none of your boss' business

#14

Post by brown9-2 » Thu, Mar 22, 2012, 2:24 PM UTC

warpspeed wrote: post #3

Zikes wrote: post #2

Isn't this illegal during the interview process since Facebook reveals practically every protected status?

I'd imagine it's probably not illegal, since that's not the only information on your profile. Just like they can't ask you your race or marital status, but when you come in for the interview they can certainly see the color of your skin and if you're wearing a wedding band. It should be illegal though- I'm not sure when it ever became acceptable to ask for someone's login credentials.

Should it be illegal though, if the applicants have to agree to do it in the first place? That's the piece of this that seems to get lost - the applicants are, for whatever hard-to-fathom reason, consenting.

It's shady, and seems short-sighted, but no one is disclosing information against their will here.

Re: Your Facebook password should be none of your boss' business

#15

Post by jostmey » Thu, Mar 22, 2012, 2:27 PM UTC

If I had a boss who ever asked me for my facebook password, I would first change my password to a string of about 100 random numbers and letters. Here is an example:

sd0w34hd8yjddghaJHj323HDa6GassGa79AsSFlk889FfSDFGd8AS78

Then, I would print this password out on a sheet of paper and give it my boss.

Re: Your Facebook password should be none of your boss' business

#16

Post by Zikes » Thu, Mar 22, 2012, 2:28 PM UTC

brown9-2 wrote: post #14

warpspeed wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd imagine it's probably not illegal, since that's not the only information on your profile. Just like they can't ask you your race or marital status, but when you come in for the interview they can certainly see the color of your skin and if you're wearing a wedding band. It should be illegal though- I'm not sure when it ever became acceptable to ask for someone's login credentials.

Should it be illegal though, if the applicants have to agree to do it in the first place? That's the piece of this that seems to get lost - the applicants are, for whatever hard-to-fathom reason, consenting. It's shady, and seems short-sighted, but no one is disclosing information against their will here.

Asking for protected information is illegal, whether the applicant consents to give it or not.

Re: Your Facebook password should be none of your boss' business

#17

Post by warpspeed » Thu, Mar 22, 2012, 2:29 PM UTC

brown9-2 wrote: post #14

warpspeed wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd imagine it's probably not illegal, since that's not the only information on your profile. Just like they can't ask you your race or marital status, but when you come in for the interview they can certainly see the color of your skin and if you're wearing a wedding band. It should be illegal though- I'm not sure when it ever became acceptable to ask for someone's login credentials.

Should it be illegal though, if the applicants have to agree to do it in the first place? That's the piece of this that seems to get lost - the applicants are, for whatever hard-to-fathom reason, consenting. It's shady, and seems short-sighted, but no one is disclosing information against their will here.

Should it be illegal to ask interviewees to sleep with you in order to be considered for the job? After all you're not forcing them, and some people might be desperate enough for a job to consent.

Re: Your Facebook password should be none of your boss' business

#18

Post by eru » Thu, Mar 22, 2012, 2:29 PM UTC

jostmey wrote: post #15

If I had a boss who ever asked me for my facebook password, I would first change my password to a string of about 100 random numbers and letters. Here is an example: sd0w34hd8yjddghaJHj323HDa6GassGa79AsSFlk889FfSDFGd8AS78 Then, I would print this password out on a sheet of paper and give it my boss.

No, you wouldn't.

Because either you stand up against that company policy and show some spine, or if you are more worried about your job than your dignity, you wouldn't dare dream of ticking your boss off.

Unless you don't really want the job, and only want to give your potential-future boss access to some juicy information, so that you can sue him easier later on for discrimination against you; and want to have some fun in that process.

Re: Your Facebook password should be none of your boss' business

#19

Post by justinhj » Thu, Mar 22, 2012, 2:30 PM UTC

brown9-2 wrote: post #14

warpspeed wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd imagine it's probably not illegal, since that's not the only information on your profile. Just like they can't ask you your race or marital status, but when you come in for the interview they can certainly see the color of your skin and if you're wearing a wedding band. It should be illegal though- I'm not sure when it ever became acceptable to ask for someone's login credentials.

Should it be illegal though, if the applicants have to agree to do it in the first place? That's the piece of this that seems to get lost - the applicants are, for whatever hard-to-fathom reason, consenting. It's shady, and seems short-sighted, but no one is disclosing information against their will here.

It should be illegal because the balance of power is in favour of the employer most of the time. Same as questions about whether you plan to have children, if it was optional to ask then those who don't would choose to answer and those who do would not, puttong them at a disadvantage.

Re: Your Facebook password should be none of your boss' business

#20

Post by mdkess » Thu, Mar 22, 2012, 2:31 PM UTC

If I ever had someone demand this, I would update my account to show my sexual orientation as homosexual, my religion to Islam, and my political views to whatever the opposite of my boss's were. Then if they ever tried to lay me off, or not give me a raise, I would point out that the only useful information they possibly could have gotten from demanding my Facebook account were these protected statuses.