Include Your Facebook Password with that Job Application…Thanks.
EmailIt’s not unusual for employers to check out job applicants online, but the city of Bozeman, Montana is going to new extremes. ABC News’ Ki Mae Heussner reports that applicants for Bozeman’s city jobs – like firefighters, policemen, and government workers – are now asked to provide logins and passwords for social networking sites, including Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube.
Bozeman officials say they want the information to verify applications and help judge the character of future employees. But turning over these passwords would give the city access to applicants’ personal photos, messages, and other private data.
Some Bozeman residents are outraged by the invasive application, and the ACLU and legislators are speaking out, calling it an invasion of privacy. Others point out that if they turn over their passwords, applicants would violate the websites’ Terms of Service agreements and could jeopardize their accounts.
So what do you think? Do you think the city went too far? Would you give up your facebook password to a potential employer?
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that’s insane!! this country is spiraling right down into 1984! ridiculous.
oh, and no, i would NOT give it up! in case that wasn’t clear
Posted by: john | June 19, 2009, 12:57 pm 12:57 pm
Why is this a surprise? Obama is not demanding, under penalty of law, that every household provide his political operatives data like: number of bathrooms, when you leave your house, your income, your racial classification, where you work, health questions, insurance questions, if you own or rent, military service, mental health questions, food stamps/assistance questions, number of cars, and many more! I’m sure in the future his operatives will add religion, if you own guns, and “who did you vote for” in the next census! One can only imagine what Obama, ACORN, IRS, identity theft, or outright criminals who gain access to this information could do to you and your house with this info! Talk about Orwell or Stasi like behaviour!
Posted by: Ed | June 19, 2009, 1:24 pm 1:24 pm
I ABSOLUTELY would not provide my password and login information to ANYBODY for any reason. This is the most egregious invasion I’ve heard of in a long time.
Posted by: Jeff Reding | June 19, 2009, 1:26 pm 1:26 pm
Ed, don’t worry about the census.
Either don’t answer all the questions or better yet just guess at the answers.
If the data is all wrong it’ll be useless to the Data-Mining Government.
The only thing you’re supposed to tell them is how many Americans you have living at your house.
Note to Facebookers; Dump your accounts now before it’s too late.
Make a new one but use an alias this time.
Your friends and family won’t care if they have to call you Bif O’Bama on Facebook.
When a possible employer asks for your social sites tell them you don’t have any, that they are a Waste-O-Time™.
You will score points and possibly get the job!
it’s a win win.
Posted by: Noz | June 19, 2009, 1:44 pm 1:44 pm
Not only no but Hell no!
1st, it’s a violation of my right to privacy.
2nd, giving login data to ANYONE is a violation of terms.
3rd, the private content of my accounts at ANY site is none of their fargin business. If they can’t see it with a Google search or by looking at the public face of the account then they don’t need to know it.
and as for what a previous commenter said about what Obama is wanting on the next census … I’d say that there’s a bunch of questions that I’m going to refuse to answer and if they don’t like it they can #### up a rope.
Posted by: Ed | June 19, 2009, 1:44 pm 1:44 pm
My spousal unit (Wife for you Bozeman employees) does not have my passwords for my accounts. Why on earth would I give them to you?
Posted by: Paul | June 19, 2009, 1:57 pm 1:57 pm
I can’t believe that other Americans are willing to ask their fellow Americans to give up their rights. I do not care what their motive. If you agree to ask those kind of questions, you are not an American but a subversive. If you make it mandatory to give up your privacy or rights, you should be declared an enemy of the state and arrested and imprisoned.
Posted by: Rob | June 19, 2009, 4:06 pm 4:06 pm
No job is worth giving up my civil liberties.
Posted by: Darlene | June 19, 2009, 5:18 pm 5:18 pm
Ed, did you refuse to give that information when the Bush administration asked it?
Posted by: Tom | June 19, 2009, 9:31 pm 9:31 pm
Hello? The City of Boseman Montana is not the Obama administration.
Posted by: Feckmore | June 20, 2009, 12:16 am 12:16 am
Dear Sir,
After reading of this article,this is a surprising things to all.
This is not good to ask passwords details of face book members of applying jobs.
This is a violation of private rights.
If any administration wants to collect the details of any citizen,they can use their intelligence agencies in fair ways.
We want to enjoy our individual freedom for share,write,discuss,friendship,and maximum merits of social network websites.
Posted by: bngpatsy | June 20, 2009, 1:12 am 1:12 am
In no way, shape, or form does the city of Bozeman, Montana or any other city have the right to ask for personal account information. How does the potential employee know that the employer might not get in their account and change things if they were stupid enough to give the id and password. The government is already taking over every bit of our lives, but we don’t have to offer it up on a silver platter. It’s a bunch of BS!
Posted by: Danielle | June 20, 2009, 4:21 am 4:21 am
this is insane.. that’s going way too far.. no one in the past had facebook account and all the employers and employees worked in harmony… This is just prying into personal stuff.. I AM TOTALLY AGAINST IT..!!
Posted by: Alka | July 22, 2009, 3:39 am 3:39 am