Senator: Employers Shouldn't Seek Site Passwords

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It is pretty damn lame that we need a politician to step in with a bill to stop stupid stuff like this. Meanwhile, it is still okay to do credit checks on people applying for store clerk positions. :rolleyes:

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal said that such a practice is an "unreasonable invasion of privacy for people seeking work." "These practices seem to be spreading, which is why federal law ought to address them. They go beyond the borders of individual states and call for a national solution," said Blumenthal, who first spoke to Politico on Wednesday.
 
Meanwhile, it is still okay to do credit checks on people applying for store clerk positions

I dont have an issue with doing checks on people who are going to be handling cash
 
I dont have an issue with doing checks on people who are going to be handling cash

When the information the employer is trying to get is directly relevant to the job at hand, fine. But asking for Facebook passwords is just a way for companies to get around asking the kind of questions that are banned by federal law.
 
Don't get a facebook, etc account.

Problem solved.

I use facebook to keep in touch with long distance families, it saves me money on a phone call and it's more time efficient. Also I can share photos with everyone in the family rather than just individual emails or *gasp* real mail.
 
Yesterday I just showed our HR person an article in a local newspaper which talked about companies asking for your site passwords. She was a little irate at the idea that some businesses do that, so I'm guessing we're safe where I work. :D
 
Don't get a facebook, etc account.

Problem solved.

Then they won't hire you because they can't verify (snoop) on you. Same with the credit score BS. That is a total scam..

You know what.. its a total FUCKING scam! There i said it.. Im angry.. Im taking a shower. :mad:
 
You know I appreciate the "less government" attitudes and ideas but it is proven time and again that frick'en companies and people are douches and thus laws are required to prevent douchyness.

Checking credit and especially asking for passwords to personal sites is just asinine. While yes we have a choice of not working there, many times a job is required to feed oneself and family so this creates a mob like extortion of our personal privacy.
 
I dont have an issue with doing checks on people who are going to be handling cash

I don't have a problem with credit checks on very important positions that demand strict responsibilities. CPA, bank teller, management, sysadmin, etc.

If you can't handle your own financial or managerial responsibilities, why should I want you to handle ours?
 
When the information the employer is trying to get is directly relevant to the job at hand, fine. But asking for Facebook passwords is just a way for companies to get around asking the kind of questions that are banned by federal law.

Golf clap :p

I can't ask how old an applicant is, I can't ask if they are married, I can't ask if they have kids, because none of that has anything to do with the job they are applying for. But I can get the answers to all that stuff and tons more on Facebook. Makes perfect sense.

Will be interesting to see if congress does anything, they probably won't.
 
I will add, while I think its messed up I have no problem with companies checking facebook if they wish... I just have a problem with forcing people to hand over their passwords or loosing a job opportunity.

I mean really, sure you could just delete your account, but then the company could say we won't hire you unless you have one... Which is what they will do, otherwise people will just say... I don't have an account...
 
Credit checks are also bogus...

My credit was in the crapper for 7 years... why because as a youngster I had issues with a 1k credit card and a forgotten movie from block buster...

Vs people that have 30k on credit and can barely pay their minimums... Even if they let all theirs go to default... we apparently are considered the same by credit standards... I would argue there is a HUGE difference...

Not only that but a few mistakes could cost you a job for YEARS...

Have you ever met a mechanic that's car was in order? Or a psychologist that wasn't crazy?

It is VERY common for people to be good at their jobs and horrible at their lives... credit says something but not as much as you think.
 
I don't have a problem with credit checks on very important positions that demand strict responsibilities. CPA, bank teller, management, sysadmin, etc.

If you can't handle your own financial or managerial responsibilities, why should I want you to handle ours?

what?

Half the time CPAs are just audit monkeys, bank tellers have zero autonomy, management or what?, sysadmins... like our linux systems administrators at work?

A credit check is a waste of time and money in a lot of those cases.

I won't even give out my phone number to Best Buy/Gamestop. I'd be offended if a company even asked for my password.
 
Considering most employees are probably going to be spending the majority of their time on the clock browsing facebook I think it is completely reasonable to ask for their password...
 
If I am ever in an interview with a company that asks for my passwords, my response will be "No. I take my security very seriously, and you have NO reason to ask for that information. It is not relevant to the position I am applying for, and has no bearing on my ability to do the job being discussed."

Credit check/Background check I am ok with. Asking for passwords? No Freaking way.
 
...and Senators shouldn't regulate businesses.

If you don't want to hand over the keys to your diary - don't. It's sheeple that let themselves be steamrolled that could lead to this become a standard.
 
You know I appreciate the "less government" attitudes and ideas but it is proven time and again that frick'en companies and people are douches and thus laws are required to prevent douchyness.

Checking credit and especially asking for passwords to personal sites is just asinine. While yes we have a choice of not working there, many times a job is required to feed oneself and family so this creates a mob like extortion of our personal privacy.

/agreed

I hate the idea of big government and regulations, but time and time again the douchyness of companies has proven that we need this kind of stuff in place.
 
I'm all for regulation when regulation is needed, but really, this doesn't sound like a place regulation is needed at all.

If someone asks you for it in an interview you can just say "I don't think this is necessary for the job and is inappropriate both in regards to my own privacy and that of my contacts". I mean, seriously, its not even YOUR privacy that's an issue its the privacy of anyone else who might be your friend. They may have sent you messages in confidence, be they private messages or simply group messages that they don't expect anyone outside their circle of "friends" to know. Its like asking for a wire tap on your phones or all mail in and out of your house to be checked, its simply not a reasonable request and potential employees should have the sense to say "no", it shouldn't need to be regulated.
 
I am, kind of, expecting the company I work for to start this.

So far they have required us to give them our personal cell phone numbers. They made it mandatory all the employees have an e-mail account. Now they want us to attend 6 community events a year (I work as a maintenance tech for an apartment community). They've made us work 6 days one week, don't pay us overtime, and make us take 1 day off the following week (what's it called? Comp time?)
They are also making it mandatory we hand out flyers and brochures anywhere we go. WTF?!?!

Anyways, that's pretty much off topic. I can see doing credit check for those that handle money but requiring access to your Facebook (or anything like that) account is being out of control. I will not do it. If it makes me lose my job, well, until I am able to get another job, I'll make a fake FB account, not link it to anything else I do, and give them all the access they want to it. Problem solved. (I actually have a fake FB account in place. All I do is play words with friends on it)
 
I am, kind of, expecting the company I work for to start this.

So far they have required us to give them our personal cell phone numbers. They made it mandatory all the employees have an e-mail account. Now they want us to attend 6 community events a year (I work as a maintenance tech for an apartment community). They've made us work 6 days one week, don't pay us overtime, and make us take 1 day off the following week (what's it called? Comp time?)
They are also making it mandatory we hand out flyers and brochures anywhere we go. WTF?!?!

Anyways, that's pretty much off topic. I can see doing credit check for those that handle money but requiring access to your Facebook (or anything like that) account is being out of control. I will not do it. If it makes me lose my job, well, until I am able to get another job, I'll make a fake FB account, not link it to anything else I do, and give them all the access they want to it. Problem solved. (I actually have a fake FB account in place. All I do is play words with friends on it)
The GM had "mandatory" Saturday morning staff meetings when I worked at CompScrewUSA as a kid. You know what we did? Nothing. We didn't go. Have done similar things at other companies.

When you work for a company, it is even easier. You have coworkers. You an conspire with your coworkers. You can all (or mostly) agree not to do stupid shit. ...and management will not do a thing about it, because they know it is asinine and they don't want to have to hire all new employees.

Stand up to the man, yo.
 
I'm all for regulation when regulation is needed, but really, this doesn't sound like a place regulation is needed at all.

If someone asks you for it in an interview you can just say "I don't think this is necessary for the job and is inappropriate both in regards to my own privacy and that of my contacts"..

And then.... you don't get hired?
This is one area that I personally do believe regulation is necessary. There is already regulation in place for what can and cannot be asked in an interview, and having facebook access (WITH the ability to POST AND SEND information, not simply ACCESS it) effectively and completely circumvents this.
 
Wow a politician with half a brain! i fully support this one.

And going by the status quo of thinking, makes you wonder what nasty dirty secrets this man is hiding!

Since technically politicians are employees of the people, I require their passwords for their facebook and other such accounts
 
And then.... you don't get hired?
This is one area that I personally do believe regulation is necessary. There is already regulation in place for what can and cannot be asked in an interview, and having facebook access (WITH the ability to POST AND SEND information, not simply ACCESS it) effectively and completely circumvents this.

But it should be one of those topics that kids should be taught "don't give out this information" so if they don't hire you, they'd have no one to hire because no one is that friggin stupid, or everyone just sets up fake FB accounts making it a pointless endeavour.

I personally wouldn't want to work for somewhere that was stupid enough to think that was a good idea... unless it was something like working for Skunk Works in which case I'd be like "Sure whatever! Would you like my first born child with that?" and take the job :p
 
If a potential employer asked me to hand over my private blogs & online accounts, I tell them this:

"My accounts contain personal information which are non relevent to my job or my past job performance. It contains information, which by law you are not allowed to ask for. By asking for my accounts you could be found in violation of EOE laws, and thus open to lawsuit for possible discrimination.

And quite frankly, if you can't trust a potential employee, even after a clean background check, drug test, references, and interview then I would prefer not to work for you."

I would then get up and leave.

Out of fear for a lawsuit, they would almost have to hire you. If they called up offering the job though, I tell them to take one up the #@$#@.
 
Sure here is all of my account and password info *change site password on phone right after handing in the form*.
 
/agreed

I hate the idea of big government and regulations, but time and time again the douchyness of companies has proven that we need this kind of stuff in place.

Don't overcommit to government defense of privacy by this until you actually get to see what sort of bill, if any is put together over it as knowing the elected scum holding office the bill could very well say companies can't require you to turn over your facebook passwords but that the government should get free, open and complete access to everyone's social networking accounts.
 
If I am ever in an interview with a company that asks for my passwords, my response will be "No. I take my security very seriously, and you have NO reason to ask for that information. It is not relevant to the position I am applying for, and has no bearing on my ability to do the job being discussed."

Credit check/Background check I am ok with. Asking for passwords? No Freaking way.

Exactly. I hand over passwords to no one.
 
If a potential employer asked me to hand over my private blogs & online accounts, I tell them this:

"My accounts contain personal information which are non relevent to my job or my past job performance. It contains information, which by law you are not allowed to ask for. By asking for my accounts you could be found in violation of EOE laws, and thus open to lawsuit for possible discrimination.

And quite frankly, if you can't trust a potential employee, even after a clean background check, drug test, references, and interview then I would prefer not to work for you."

I would then get up and leave.

Out of fear for a lawsuit, they would almost have to hire you. If they called up offering the job though, I tell them to take one up the #@$#@.

While it's great to have a plan. I expect my response would be more along the lines of, "Are you fucking serious? No you can't have any of my passwords."
 
I'd tell any potential employer seeking my passwords to get bent. Furthermore, I'd make the point that they absolutely wouldn't want me going through their lives, having access to their passwords, accounts, etc. After all I need to make sure they are trust worthy and aren't bipolar or going to screw me over in some fashion right?
 
Don't overcommit to government defense of privacy by this until you actually get to see what sort of bill, if any is put together over it as knowing the elected scum holding office the bill could very well say companies can't require you to turn over your facebook passwords but that the government should get free, open and complete access to everyone's social networking accounts.

Yep. Don't trust businesses and trust gov't even less.
 
...and Senators shouldn't regulate businesses.
:rolleyes: Good thing we have a constitution in place that says otherwise:

[The Congress shall have Power] To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes
 
:rolleyes: Good thing we have a constitution in place that says otherwise:

[The Congress shall have Power] To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes

You realize regulate didn't mean the same thing when the constitution was written that is does today. Then it meant to keep regular. The particulars of business practice among other things were left to the states for a reason.
 
:rolleyes: Good thing we have a constitution in place that says otherwise:

[The Congress shall have Power] To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes

Good thing all 3 branches of the Federal government are careful to rigorously follow the Constitution!

Wait...:(
 
I'd tell any potential employer seeking my passwords to get bent. Furthermore, I'd make the point that they absolutely wouldn't want me going through their lives, having access to their passwords, accounts, etc. After all I need to make sure they are trust worthy and aren't bipolar or going to screw me over in some fashion right?

Better yet, ask for the same in return. Fair is fair.
 
Don't overcommit to government defense of privacy by this until you actually get to see what sort of bill, if any is put together over it as knowing the elected scum holding office the bill could very well say companies can't require you to turn over your facebook passwords but that the government should get free, open and complete access to everyone's social networking accounts.

No fuckin shit. This is exactly what would happen.
 
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