Would you be comfortable giving your Facebook username and password to your potential employer?
It might seem like a ludicrous question and something that no-one would do. But in the US it is quickly becoming increasingly common for job recruiters to ask applicants for their Facebook login details so that they can go through the person’s entire Facebook profile.
Personally I would be shocked if someone requested such an invasion of privacy, and I would have thought that most people would feel the same.
However, recruiting agencies are saying that applicants are feeling the pressure to get a step ahead of their competitors, and some are willingly handing over their personal information. Company bosses say the applicants always have the right to decline the request, but it seems the underlying message is enough to persuade them to give in.
Other hopefuls said they wouldn’t go as far as giving out their passwords, but were more than willing to call up their Facebook profile for an interviewer to browse through.
But I’ve been reading Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities and it seems that giving out your password actually contravenes their rules. It clearly states “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.”
Interesting.
Although I’m firmly against this password sharing thing, I’m still amazed at some the highly sensitive and personal information people post on Facebook. Scores of Facebook profiles get hacked daily, and the ‘rule’ has always been “once you put something online you should be prepared for that to become public knowledge”.
What are your thoughts?
I CANNOT believe prospective employers would ask for this. That’s RIDICULOUS if you ask me. There’s no way I would let them view my FB profile even if I don’t have incriminating data on there.
I also think it’s ridiculous.
Generally your Facebook profile is meant to contain a private journal and communication. So that shouldn’t be any business of most employers.
But these days, I think the one of the first things people do when they want to find more information about someone is to check their Facebook profile anyway.
But to ask for your username and password is just way overboard.