Are you conducting a new job search? If so, be on the lookout.
More and more employers are asking candidates to provide Facebook account information or requesting to “friend” applicants as part of the interview process, allowing employers to get a better look into an applicant’s personal life. This includes access to your personal chat, inbox, photos and everything else you may have deemed as private in your Facebook account – information that would otherwise go unseen to someone outside your network who simply views your profile.
An employers’ reasoning to ask for this kind of insight could range anywhere from ensuring you aren’t engaged in illegal activities outside the work environment to making sure you are an environmental fit for the company.
DO NOT PROVIDE THIS INFORMATION!
Instead politely decline by saying something along these lines: “Thank you for asking, however, I prefer to keep social media as a means of personal communication, and sharing that information goes against Facebook’s Terms of Service.”
You wouldn’t let a potential employer read your personal mail, would you?
According to CNN, “‘It’s an invasion of privacy for private employers to insist on looking at people’s private Facebook pages as a condition of employment or consideration in an application process,’ attorney Catherine Crump said in a statement from the ACLU. ‘People are entitled to their private lives.'”
Not only is this an issue of personal privacy, but an issue of registration and account security with Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. “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.”
So how do employers get away with asking for this information? So far, no one has been taken to court for violation of social media privacy rights. And employers will continue to ask for this information until doing so is made illegal or until a company is sued.
Protect yourself and know your rights.
