Employers Asking for Facebook Passwords On Applications?

I thought that the Ts and Cs of things like Facebook, Google+, Twatter, etc all say you are not allowed to share your password? So is this a test to see if you are happy to break rules? And corrupt the confidence of your online friends?

That was my first thought. I'd just write "see me."
 
Let me add, outside of some type of national security/intelligence position, where they may disallow social networking altogether.

Hmm must be some super-secret national security/intelligence organizations that you're talking about... probably 80% of the people I work with flip a switch to go from reading classified reports to reading about what their nephew had for lunch. Only thing the DoD has done is ban using it in certain areas, which is not the same as a prohibition of personnel using the sites under ANY circumstances. Policy memo is here. So for example while someone may not be able to access the site from inside the NSA building, there is no official policy (that I am aware of at my clearance level) which says that personnel/employees are prohibited from utilizing social networking on a personal basis.
Now using those sites to engage in certain activities can impact your ability to keep your job (we had a guy almost get fired for posting a picture of his work desk on his facebook page, who eventually got fired for something else) but general access is no more restricted than e-mail or internet forums.

Regarding the topic of them asking for a username/password on a job application, I would not provide that information to any prospective employer. While it's true that a lot of employers now will search for you anyway to glean any derogatory information, it does not entitle them to search any private space. I would absolutely love to get fired for not providing this information too, because then I would never need another job after winning that lawsuit.

Keep in mind that it is an employer's right to ask you any question they want, it's what they do with whatever answer you give them that could sway your chances of employment (and potentially have any legal ramifications). Something like this on a police application, I would write a brief explanation of why I will not provide the information, citing a possible security compromise and my dedication to security in all aspects of my life. I would imagine I'd get a better response from that than from drawing a middle finger on the line instead.
 
I'd create a fake account with my name and post once a week how I love my job and my ass is theirs to command.
 
So they ask for your facebook information?

Why the fuck do they not want to login to your emails?
Gee, mind as well go all out and ask for everything.

Want my bank login too?

Fuck that shit.
 
What sort of idiot would give out their......oh wait. Nevermind. The same idiots who get scammed by 419ers and the like.
 
What is this FB and MySpace you speak of? However,I once had a pre employment lie detector test in 1980 and no, it wasn't for the government.
 
I have 2 facebook accounts, just for this reason. Even though it hasn't happened, yet, I am ready. There are no friends added, no conversations, just FB game stuff. They won't get the login/password to either of the accounts though, if they ask.

The company I work for did ask for my email address today. I gave them my @smartass.com address. Wonder if they'll send me anything.
 
Original person that posted this picture to the net said that his wife did not put a password, just an e-mail address. Comments were made that this could be a test, heh. I'd certainly tell them that it's a personal security risk for them to have that information and deny them.

One person commented that some of these services' EULAs have language that says it's forbidden to share your login information and considering an EULA can be upheld in court you are legally bound to not share that information. I suppose I might browse Facebook's terms to see if they have that in them.
 
what a load of bullshit.. unless you work for some top secret govt agency theres no reason for a job to have that type of access to your personal life..
 
It is against Facebook's EULA:
http://www.facebook.com/legal/terms

4. Registration and Account Security

Facebook users provide their real names and information, and we need your help to keep it that way. Here are some commitments you make to us relating to registering and maintaining the security of your account:
You will not provide any false personal information on Facebook, or create an account for anyone other than yourself without permission.
You will not create more than one personal profile.
If we disable your account, you will not create another one without our permission.
You will not use your personal profile for your own commercial gain (such as selling your status update to an advertiser).
You will not use Facebook if you are under 13.
You will not use Facebook if you are a convicted sex offender.
You will keep your contact information accurate and up-to-date.
You will not share your password, (or in the case of developers, your secret key), let anyone else access your account, or do anything else that might jeopardize the security of your account.
 
My first reaction- wtf!?

My second reaction- "I'm a broke grad student, all it will take to get a job is a username and password? Here you go!"
 
Awesome fail post. You can't control humans - yet - no matter what you do. The applicant can lie and still negatively impact the company. The applicant can tell the truth and still negatively impact the company. There are no guarantees with people hired. The best a company can do is to lock down their resources and to follow strict corporate wide policies. Asking for personal accounts is bullshit. They best they could ask is to make employees a friend of the company profile. Asking for personal accounts is not far off from let me go ahead and search your car or house.

There's a lil something called CYA. Read about it sometime... :D
 
Jesus christ people. Talk about kneejerk reactions. There are reasons why they ask for that info. As far as security, your company is as strong as its weakest link. So even if its a dumb-blonde clerical position, I can see situations where that request is needed.

There are companies that need to make sure you aren't going to negatively impact them. Do you guys read some of the stupid facebook fails that [H] posts on the frontpage? You can see why, now, right? The basic idea is that stupid people ruined it for the rest of us.

Would I ever work at a place that require my FB info? Nope. Would I hold it against the company? Nope. All this sensationalistic, chicken little, thinking about them being scumbags and robbing america of its freedom is hilarious.

Your absolulty right. You know up until 2003 it was illegal in 14 states to engage in anal sex. The company absolutly needs to know if its employees are following all applicable laws. As such I find it completely within reason to ask a potential employee if they butt sex their spouse in the privacy of their bedroom. Companies need to be protected from dangerous "freedom lovers***"

***makes me sick just saying those disgusting words :mad:
 
I would write a brief explanation of why I will not provide the information, citing a possible security compromise and my dedication to security in all aspects of my life.

This 100% If I saw this question on an application, I would think it was a test to see if you will divulge company secrets if someone asks you in an official way...
 
my job threatened to ask for that kind of info for new hires. if i was a new hire i would tell them to gtfo no way i'm giving that info up
 
Now what the hell does what you post on your facebook, have anything to do with how you perform your job duties?

This is out of control, no way in hell this is OK with the government.

I hate corporate america, they want your blood. You are expected to work more than you have time off, spend with family, etc.

This is just dumb.

I would like to recommend you reconsider and think this position through.

The very worst environments I have worked in were at small businesses. Not all small businesses - some were just OK, some were fantastic, but I have worked at some of the largest companies in America and was always treated fairly and usually far better:

When I was a contractor at Citibank working on their biometric security, they cancelled the project suddenly - I had only been a contractor there for maybe 3 months, but my boss told me I could stay on for 2 more weeks and come in and use the time to look for another job as long as I didn't look like I was screwing around. That was great - he certainly didn't need to do that for contractor - it's usually one phone call and they never have to see you again.

On the other side of the coin, I changed careers and became a recruiter. I was fired from my first job because they were designing a custom database and the developer asked us for feedback - I had made a folder full of screen shots showing some UI issues and my boss found them on my work computer when I took a day off. She called me in that day and fired me because she thought I was planning to steal her database of candidates and contacts and take it somewhere else using the screenshots - yeah, it's not that she thought that the screenshots were pre-planning, it's that she thought I could hijack everything WITH SCREEN SHOTS. It was ugly and mind bogglingly stupid and way beyond a reasonable resolution. The sad thing is, I am a good recruiter now in large part because of what I learned from her...

My first IT job (back in 1995) had me working from 7am to 1am on week days plus at least 10 hours on weekends setting up computers for a well known franchise training center. I made $1200 a month and never missed a day of work in 6 months - when I asked them to hire an extra person, they fired me and falsified my time cards to try to avoid paying me the overtime they illegally didn't pay me.

Obviously there are plenty of large companies that treat people poorly, but the real problem is not "Corporate America", it's just people. Some people are great, and some are blood sucking monsters whose sole restraint on their malevolence is that they only do as much as they can get away with. Those people exist in education, small business, private industry and the public sector as well.

So stop imagining there is anything better or worse about "Corporate America". It's not exempt from the full range of human experience.
 
What the hell is wrong with you people?

Anyone who asks for the password to one of your private accounts simply cannot be trusted.

Few things are as personal and confidential as a facebook account:

1. Giving up your account info violates the TOS.

2. It is also a betrayal of confidence of anyone who has sent you a message with the expectation that it would remain private.

3. You are responsible for what happens on the account. What if they log in and then decide to play a "joke" and start making terrorist threats against public figures? Yeah, you could probably prove it wasn't you. Eventually.

4. Who will have the password, what will they do with it and who will they share it with? What do they want to see?

5. This is actually a lawyers dream. What if you are in a group that talks about a chronic disease? Special needs kids? GLBT communities? The "wrong" political or religious affiliation? Hell, even the wrong sports team might keep you from being hired but if they get the info and then don't hire you, they are opening themselves up to some very serious scrutiny and probably some lawsuits.

6. What, exactly, do they need to know about you? We do drug screens and background checks where I work. That actually covers a lot. If you work with money and finances, you can do a credit screen as well - so what is it they want to see that these other tools won't tell them? So what do you want to see, and what is the standard by which it will be judged? Does your church frown on drinking? Do you hate people who hunt or own firearms? Will that make me look "unsafe" to your company?

7. Assuming the issue is "offensive content", then I wonder - if I have all my "offensive" posts and topics sequestered away, then what are you worried about?
 
I'd create a fake account with my name and post once a week how I love my job and my ass is theirs to command.

Exactly how it should be done. Buisness up front (profile you show and share with them if they doso insist) party down the back. Its a shitty job not a marriage. They dont own you.
 
A close friend of mine is vehemently opposed to social sites and doesn't have an account because he values his privacy. He's currently unemployed because a small local company he applied to didn't believe him and thought he was hiding something. it sucks because he was in his 3rd interview, this time with one of the owners and everything was going smoothly until he brought up facebook. He thought he was being an asshole and even told him, cmon level with me everyone has facebook. The owner became frustrated and told him to email him his FB account if he really wants this job, that he would give him a day to erase any incriminating evidence and that they had screened every other job candidates page before him and he had alot of nerve asking for an exception. Where are we headed
 
I'd create a fake account with my name and post once a week how I love my job and my ass is theirs to command.

Exactly how it should be done. Buisness up front (profile you show and share with them if they doso insist) party down the back. Its a shitty job not a marriage. They dont own you.
 
Exactly how it should be done. Buisness up front (profile you show and share with them if they doso insist) party down the back. Its a shitty job not a marriage. They dont own you.

sounds like you just described a mullet there lol business in the front, party in the back :p
 
I've been asked questions on interviews that I knew THEY knew were illegal. Not that they even care about knowing such details, they just want to know how confident and comfortable you are invoking your right to privacy.
 
Facebook is as dangerous as a credit card. Used responsibly, it's an incredibly powerful tool to build (social) net-worth.

And part of this responsibility ensures companies asking for this information of me, would receive a paragraph essay as to why said practice is both illegal and immoral.
 
I would like to recommend you reconsider and think this position through.

The very worst environments I have worked in were at small businesses. Not all small businesses - some were just OK, some were fantastic, but I have worked at some of the largest companies in America and was always treated fairly and usually far better:

When I was a contractor at Citibank working on their biometric security, they cancelled the project suddenly - I had only been a contractor there for maybe 3 months, but my boss told me I could stay on for 2 more weeks and come in and use the time to look for another job as long as I didn't look like I was screwing around. That was great - he certainly didn't need to do that for contractor - it's usually one phone call and they never have to see you again.

On the other side of the coin, I changed careers and became a recruiter. I was fired from my first job because they were designing a custom database and the developer asked us for feedback - I had made a folder full of screen shots showing some UI issues and my boss found them on my work computer when I took a day off. She called me in that day and fired me because she thought I was planning to steal her database of candidates and contacts and take it somewhere else using the screenshots - yeah, it's not that she thought that the screenshots were pre-planning, it's that she thought I could hijack everything WITH SCREEN SHOTS. It was ugly and mind bogglingly stupid and way beyond a reasonable resolution. The sad thing is, I am a good recruiter now in large part because of what I learned from her...

My first IT job (back in 1995) had me working from 7am to 1am on week days plus at least 10 hours on weekends setting up computers for a well known franchise training center. I made $1200 a month and never missed a day of work in 6 months - when I asked them to hire an extra person, they fired me and falsified my time cards to try to avoid paying me the overtime they illegally didn't pay me.

Obviously there are plenty of large companies that treat people poorly, but the real problem is not "Corporate America", it's just people. Some people are great, and some are blood sucking monsters whose sole restraint on their malevolence is that they only do as much as they can get away with. Those people exist in education, small business, private industry and the public sector as well.

So stop imagining there is anything better or worse about "Corporate America". It's not exempt from the full range of human experience.

Great post man... I tend to agree with this line of thinking.
 
Asking for information you have no obligation to give is not nearly as bad as treating existing employees badly.

I tend to agree with the above post, working for small businesses can leave you open to all kinds of exploits because there is no HR to watch over management. I had a job where the owner would constantly try to guilt trip us to keep working even from home after our shift was over and would purposely beat people down and tell them how their college degree wasn't good for shit because he never went and he became a millionaire while all they had to show for it was debt. They didn't really mess with me at first because I have a very direct personality and don't take shit, but in a couple of month it came full circle and I first told them I won't stand for it, when they did it again I resigned the same day.

If you don't stand up for your principles don't bother having any.
 
Asking for information you have no obligation to give is not nearly as bad as treating existing employees badly.

I tend to agree with the above post, working for small businesses can leave you open to all kinds of exploits because there is no HR to watch over management. I had a job where the owner would constantly try to guilt trip us to keep working even from home after our shift was over and would purposely beat people down and tell them how their college degree wasn't good for shit because he never went and he became a millionaire while all they had to show for it was debt. They didn't really mess with me at first because I have a very direct personality and don't take shit, but in a couple of month it came full circle and I first told them I won't stand for it, when they did it again I resigned the same day.

If you don't stand up for your principles don't bother having any.

Well he was right though about one thing. Most college degrees don't mean shit.
 
Well he was right though about one thing. Most college degrees don't mean shit.
And I agree with him for the most part, I don't have mine yet (working on it after hours) and I am already well above the average 4-year graduate in income of similar age. But you can't go around berating people because they took a different path, especially from a position of authority.

People are so quick to trash "Corporate America" but I think small business America is much worse over all.
 
Asking for information you have no obligation to give is not nearly as bad as treating existing employees badly.

I tend to agree with the above post, working for small businesses can leave you open to all kinds of exploits because there is no HR to watch over management. I had a job where the owner would constantly try to guilt trip us to keep working even from home after our shift was over and would purposely beat people down and tell them how their college degree wasn't good for shit because he never went and he became a millionaire while all they had to show for it was debt. They didn't really mess with me at first because I have a very direct personality and don't take shit, but in a couple of month it came full circle and I first told them I won't stand for it, when they did it again I resigned the same day.

If you don't stand up for your principles don't bother having any.

The elephant in the room is that your employment experience will largely be determined by your value in the job market.

If you have a valuable skill set and you present yourself properly, it's highly unlikely that you will have to deal with anything you don't want to deal with - or at least not for very long.

If you have a commodity skill set and there is an army of unemployed people out there hungrily waiting to do your job while working more hours for less pay then... well, you're screwed because losing you as an employee is of little to no consequence.

While this is less likely to happen to you if you have a degree, it's not a guarantee. I've seen well educated friends struggle while people like me - who skipped college - managed to do very well.

I knew I would never make it through college, but I have always tried to look at the job market and find a niche where I could be valuable - that's really the secret.
 
Keep in mind that it is an employer's right to ask you any question they want,

Bullshit. An employer cannot discriminate against hiring a potential employee based on race, religion or sex so they can not ask any questions that would pertain to race, religion or sex.
 
This is headed for the courts REAL damn quick.

We'll see. They've already gotten away with many other shady requisites. Credit check, length of unemployment, background check..
 
Bullshit. An employer cannot discriminate against hiring a potential employee based on race, religion or sex so they can not ask any questions that would pertain to race, religion or sex.
True, but they infact can ask everything they want, but who said you have to tell the true. If I would be asked to fill my FB or any other site login credentials, I would write fake details there :D Not refusing it. I love to piss off people who are asking shit from me.
 
Actually, I just thought of a good use for a question like that....

It would be a good way to find out of your potential employee is a moron that just blindly answers or does something without thinking it through first. We've had phishing scams get through our email filters and idiot employees that responded to them, willfully giving out their personal information and passwords. And mind you, this is after multiple reminders telling people that we never ask for passwords or personal information.

I'm not saying this is what they are getting at here, but it would be an interesting social experiment to see how much info you can get out of someone when they think it's in their best interest.
 
Actually, I just thought of a good use for a question like that....

It would be a good way to find out of your potential employee is a moron that just blindly answers or does something without thinking it through first. We've had phishing scams get through our email filters and idiot employees that responded to them, willfully giving out their personal information and passwords. And mind you, this is after multiple reminders telling people that we never ask for passwords or personal information.

I'm not saying this is what they are getting at here, but it would be an interesting social experiment to see how much info you can get out of someone when they think it's in their best interest.

I thought of this as well, but a company can be held accountable for the questions they ask on a job interview. Look at this link - on page 6 is a list of inappropriate questions:

http://www.xavier.edu/appliedhrmresearch/1990-Summer/Clark Vol1(1).pdf

"What are your hobbies / interests / clubs?"
"How many dependents do you have?"
"Complete the following medical history"


So while getting direct access to facebook is not quite the same as asking illegal questions, it would be extremely easy to argue that this is just an "end run" or a "fishing expedition" to get around those guidelines and weed out any "undesireables".

A couple years ago, I was offered a job at Ebay/Paypal and they asked me to give them every email address I had ever used as well as any sites/forums/social networks that I was a member of - and also any ebay accounts I had ever used.

They were not asking for passwords, but it was still unsettling. I actually conduct myself on all online forums "as if" my employer or future employer may read my posts so while I didn't feel I had anything to hide, it still gave me pause.

I ended up not getting the job because I didn't pass the credit check - that could be a whole 30 page thread in it's self as it was quite an eye opening adventure. The upside was that I cleared up my credit quite a bit in a short period of time...
 
True, but they infact can ask everything they want, but who said you have to tell the true. If I would be asked to fill my FB or any other site login credentials, I would write fake details there :D Not refusing it. I love to piss off people who are asking shit from me.

Most people lie to job interviewers, and it is their own fault for expecting everyone to be the perfect zomboid drone worker they want to hire.
 
Most people lie to job interviewers, and it is their own fault for expecting everyone to be the perfect zomboid drone worker they want to hire.
That is not surprising me, especially because they don't have the right to know everything, including(unless it is associated with job strictly related to that)your medical condition and medical history. But your right expecting someone to be the clear/best and ever was is just retardess.
 
Back
Top