Bill Banning Employer Facebook Snooping Introduced

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
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With several states introducing their own legislation concerning the rights of employees to privacy online, Congress was a sure bet to follow the trend. A bill was co-authored by two members of Congress to ban employers from requiring access to an employee’s online content.

The Social Networking Online Protection Act, authored by Congressman Eliot Engel of New York and sponsored by Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, is in response to a growing number of reports of employers demanding their employees’ Facebook passwords as a condition of employment.
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LOL

wow, this seems really ironic... employers can not ask for your facebook info but the CISPA they want!
 
Is Congress going to deadlock on this one because they can't find a way to pay for the campaign donations they're going to lose if they pass this bill? What other little riders are they going to attach to this bill?
 
night_2004 said:
Is Congress going to deadlock on this one because they can't find a way to pay for the campaign donations they're going to lose if they pass this bill? What other little riders are they going to attach to this bill?
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That's the first thing that crossed my mind. What are they going to attach to this to turn it from good legislation into a crap sandwich.
 
Good. Anything someone has posted as private to their social networking should have an expectation of privacy, and be covered by all the same existing interview privacy laws that protect marital status, sexual orientation, age, pregnancy status, etc.
 
Kuraudo said:
How are they going to enforce this?
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Employer asks for Facebook info -> You refuse -> They reject you on the spot -> Lawsuit

Just like any other illegal question they might ask you I guess. Or you can report them.
 
Yup, the list of interview questions you can't legally ask is pretty long (and a lot of people I've interviewed with haven't had a clue about them). This is probably the only intelligent piece of legislation this congress has proposed. Something as simple as this should be passed in a day, a half page bill on a single topic.

If they can take the time to vote on amendments, they can take the time to pass each as a separate, one topic bill.
 
Nice. We have no expectation of privacy online if the government is involved but as far as employers go, we have it. Talk about mixed messages.
 
I am sure I am not the only one that finds this ironic. They want to pass CISPA so they can violate our privacy without cause or due process but now they are trying to pass a bill to protect our privacy....

The government should really just stop trying to write any laws about the internet.
 
MrGuvernment said:
LOL

wow, this seems really ironic... employers can not ask for your facebook info but the CISPA they want!
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if you read the thread.......your not...
RogueKitsune said:
I am sure I am not the only one that finds this ironic. They want to pass CISPA so they can violate our privacy without cause or due process but now they are trying to pass a bill to protect our privacy....

The government should really just stop trying to write any laws about the internet.
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Another example of BIG government over stepping its bounds and trampling on the rights of free enterprise with a job killing bill. When will these lieberals learn to just let the free market work? Regulations are sending our jobs overseas. If these hippies I mean interviewees don't want to hand out their passwords they are free to seek work somewhere else or starve to death if their precious feelings get too hurt. Wake up America!
 
Hamish Campbell said:
Another example of BIG government over stepping its bounds and trampling on the rights of free enterprise with a job killing bill. When will these lieberals learn to just let the free market work? Regulations are sending our jobs overseas. If these hippies I mean interviewees don't want to hand out their passwords they are free to seek work somewhere else or starve to death if their precious feelings get too hurt. Wake up America!
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You sound like a dolt.
 
Im sure multinational corporations wouldnt have a hard time cracking your fb password.....
In any case let them ask me whatever they want about fb, I dont have one!!!
 
If the 'free market' worked with no laws (as is implied), there would be exactly one company out there right now telling us what we can and cannot buy. They would buy out any competition or stomp them into the ground to make sure they never came around again. The 'free market' is a joke. There are already numerous examples of companies that have tried to do exactly this. The fact that you tout this as an answer clearly shows your lack of understanding of ANYTHING, and that you actually BELIEVE that BS on the radio.
 
Jospeh said:
The free market doesn't work. The free market encourages everyone to get shit on except the guys at the top.
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defunctdoormat said:
If the 'free market' worked with no laws (as is implied), there would be exactly one company out there right now telling us what we can and cannot buy. They would buy out any competition or stomp them into the ground to make sure they never came around again. The 'free market' is a joke. There are already numerous examples of companies that have tried to do exactly this. The fact that you tout this as an answer clearly shows your lack of understanding of ANYTHING, and that you actually BELIEVE that BS on the radio.
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Name me an economic system which has proven more effective at elevating the standard of living of the whole population better than capitalism. Is it perfect? No. But it beats the pants off everything else that has been tried.

I don't like the idea of a potential employer requiring access to one's facebook account any more than anyone else, but is government regulation *really* going to make it better?

If an employer asks for your facebook login, the correct answer should be a simple "No." If a company won't hire you without prying into your personal life, it's probably a safe bet you wouldn't want to work for them anyway.

Or, you know, you could make a fake facebook account and give that to them.
 
Hamish Campbell said:
Another example of BIG government over stepping its bounds and trampling on the rights of free enterprise with a job killing bill. When will these lieberals learn to just let the free market work? Regulations are sending our jobs overseas. If these hippies I mean interviewees don't want to hand out their passwords they are free to seek work somewhere else or starve to death if their precious feelings get too hurt. Wake up America!
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lol

what buisness is it of a company of what i do in my off time?

How about next they send someone to follow you around for your 3 months trial to see what you do after work?

and next they want logs from your ISP to see your web browsing habbits while at home...

Where does it stop?

So yes, a law like this will help, even if just a little, at least now the company can get nailed if not careful in what they ask or reasons for not hiring you, even though they could make some other reason up.

My answer would be simple.. No, that has no relevance to my job, and if i did, do i get access to see yours?
 
Hamish Campbell said:
Another example of BIG government over stepping its bounds and trampling on the rights of free enterprise with a job killing bill. When will these lieberals learn to just let the free market work? Regulations are sending our jobs overseas. If these hippies I mean interviewees don't want to hand out their passwords they are free to seek work somewhere else or starve to death if their precious feelings get too hurt. Wake up America!
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And what about those of us who don't use Facebook at all and have no account?

I don't want to be passed over because Tom, whom they interviewed before me and hated, gets the job over me, just because I don't have a Facebook account.

Also, free market doesn't work in the slightest.
 
I shouldn't be surprised so many of you don't get that post was sarcasm since so many people sincerely post stuff like that.
 
Hamish Campbell said:
I shouldn't be surprised so many of you don't get that post was sarcasm since so many people sincerely post stuff like that.
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Sarcasm or not, that post is damning to many people.

I'm not saying your a callous person, but what was said is very true.

I would bet money that if this bill doesn't pass things like not being hired or being passed over for a promotion would happen just because someone doesn't have a Facebook account.
 
As someone who has been on the hiring end; there are questions that you are forbidden to ask legally, that will be in plain sight on ones FaceBook account; Age, Marital Status, Religion, Sexual Orientation, and number of dependents. Also ones health status could be gleaned from FaceBook if the person belongs to a cancer support group online. Asking about any of those topics is illegal.

I would think that employers are opening themselves up to employment discrimination suits by looking into a FaceBook account like they have been doing. I am surprised it has not happened already to tell you the truth.
 
Racheakt said:
As someone who has been on the hiring end; there are questions that you are forbidden to ask legally, that will be in plain sight on ones FaceBook account; Age, Marital Status, Religion, Sexual Orientation, and number of dependents. Also ones health status could be gleaned from FaceBook if the person belongs to a cancer support group online. Asking about any of those topics is illegal.

I would think that employers are opening themselves up to employment discrimination suits by looking into a FaceBook account like they have been doing. I am surprised it has not happened already to tell you the truth.
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I've been saying it all along. This is why they are asking. To get information they aren't allowed to. If a company ever asks for that I'll either be walking out of the interview or taking my sweet time handing in my resignation after I find a replacement job.
 
what is sad is that there needs to be a bill for this in the first place.

the really fucked up elephant in the room is what companies are turning jobs into. They want more more and to have some hand in every aspect of your life.

it's no wonder America gets to be the butt of the live to work joke. The worst part is with the piss poor job market these kinds of activities can just keep going on in one form or another since if someone won't take the job or bend over for a job someone else will.
 
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