Global Security, Privacy, & Risk Management

UPDATE “Just Say No!”- to Facebook Login Request for Employment March 23, 2012

UPDATE: Kudos to Facebook for weighing in on this subject.  Facebook says that not only is the practice wrong, but it is a violation of Facebook’s terms of service.  Echoing what I (and others) have said, logging into someone’s FB page could expose the employer to a lawsuit.  “(W)e don’t think it’s right the thing to do,” she said. “But it also may cause problems for the employers that they are not anticipating. For example, if an employer sees on Facebook that someone is a member of a protected group (e.g. over a certain age, etc.) that employer may open themselves up to claims of discrimination if they don’t hire that person.”

I find myself posting on this subject occasionally because a neighbor, friend or other person will inform me that during an interview or application they were asked to provide their Facebook or other ‘social media’ login.  This topic seems to arise again, and again and was again highlighted on msnbc.com.  So, for those who are asking or saying: “Chris, if you have nothing to worry about, then why do you care?”  Valid question.  Let me answer.  First, if you are looking for a job, as a responsible professional person you should take care to not post inflammatory, racist, hateful or other items on your social media.  If you are a proud member of a hate group, you may want to keep that info private.   Pictures of you doing drugs, or being arrested in New Orleans is also probably a bad idea.  (more…)