companies asking for facebook password?

[SaintAugustine]

from yahoo news...

An increasing number of companies and schools have started asking employees and students for their Facebook passwords. The practice has been growing at such an alarming rate, that Facebook released its official stance on the issue, telling its users that they have the right not to comply with their employers' request. Several politicians including Michigan's own State Representatives Aric Nesbitt and Matt Lori have been pushing for bills that will make the breach of privacy an illegal practice. Unfortunately, it hasn't been going very well for them — the House of Representatives recently rejected a legislation that would protect your passwords from employers' prying eyes.

 

[angellous_evangellous]

That's very odd.

 

[Alex_G]

thats bull, why not give them the keyes to my house, all my phone numbers and all my bank details too. They can shove that sort of request...you know where.

 

[Songbird]

I was a little shocked to see how prevalent it is. I thought, sure, maybe a few underhanded employers are doing that, but it's really common! And I can't believe there wasn't already legislation in place to forbid it. The advice that's been circulating lately is to create a second FB account, populate it with some trusted friends, and show that account to employers. Not sure what to say when they start asking if you have any accounts you're not telling them about.

 

[SaintAugustine]

the paragraph is from the full yahoo article on a teacher..fired...for not giving it up.

 

[Erebus]

A friend of mine was fired from his job for complaining about his shift. From what I understand the Odeon in Manchester was looking to cut people loose and one of the other workers showed them the comments on my friend's facebook. They used this as the reason for getting rid of him and he didn't even have to give his password for them to do it.

In other words complaining about awkward shifts is now a sack-able offence regardless of who's time you're on apparently.

 

[SaintAugustine]

A friend of mine was fired from his job for complaining about his shift. From what I understand the Odeon in Manchester was looking to cut people loose and one of the other workers showed them the comments on my friend's facebook. They used this as the reason for getting rid of him and he didn't even have to give his password for them to do it.

In other words complaining about awkward shifts is now a sack-able offence regardless of who's time you're on apparently.

this is the kind of thing, that makes me black out in rage..lol...this is so wrong..what ever happned to free speech..yes, he maybe..shouldn't have posted that..but everyone needs to vent.

 

[Songbird]

A friend of mine was fired from his job for complaining about his shift. From what I understand the Odeon in Manchester was looking to cut people loose and one of the other workers showed them the comments on my friend's facebook. They used this as the reason for getting rid of him and he didn't even have to give his password for them to do it.

In other words complaining about awkward shifts is now a sack-able offence regardless of who's time you're on apparently.

this is the kind of thing, that makes me black out in rage..lol...this is so wrong..what ever happned to free speech..yes, he maybe..shouldn't have posted that..but everyone needs to vent.

Well, I think it's to be expected. It's easy to forget that Facebook and internet discussions are public. If I wouldn't complain to a coworker about something in person, I sure won't do it on a medium which is recorded and can be used as proof of anything.

 

[Kathryn]

I worked for a company that had a policy that you could not discuss work on Facebook - which actually, considering some of the CONFIDENTIAL information that some idiots will just plaster all over Facebook, I could see how the policy was a necessary evil.

I do think it is within a company's right to prohibit you from discussing company business on social media sites, but it is NOT within their rights to require passwords to your private accounts - ANY sort of account.

 

[Kathryn]

People need to be a LOT more careful about what they commit to print - anywhere.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I was a little shocked to see how prevalent it is. I thought, sure, maybe a few underhanded employers are doing that, but it's really common! And I can't believe there wasn't already legislation in place to forbid it. The advice that's been circulating lately is to create a second FB account, populate it with some trusted friends, and show that account to employers. Not sure what to say when they start asking if you have any accounts you're not telling them about.

I'm pretty sure that Canadian law (or at least Ontario law) already forbids it... or at least that's my take on it, anyhow. Our privacy laws require companies to have a legitimate business purpose for collecting any sort of personal information, and have to have a privacy policy ib place that requires, among other things, that they not retain it any longer than they might legitimately need it.

... even if the person consents to providing their personal information.

This is nuts. It's one thing to have a policy about not bad-mouthing the company on Facebook, but it's another to demand access to your private messages to and from close friends or even your spouse. IMO, unless I was applying for a super-duper security clearance job with the military or an intelligence service, I would tell any prospective employer who asked for my Facebook password to go **** up a rope.

 

[Erebus]

this is the kind of thing, that makes me black out in rage..lol...this is so wrong..what ever happned to free speech..yes, he maybe..shouldn't have posted that..but everyone needs to vent.

Honestly I have no sympathy for the people who whine about a boss they've got on their facebook. In this case though not only did he have no reason to think they'd see the comment it was clearly an excuse to cut staff. Still, lesson learned on his part I guess.

I worked for a company that had a policy that you could not discuss work on Facebook - which actually, considering some of the CONFIDENTIAL information that some idiots will just plaster all over Facebook, I could see how the policy was a necessary evil.

See that's entirely reasonable. It's when privacy and the ability to speak your mind to friends is compromised that it becomes problematic.
Of course I personally think whining about a job is a bad idea generally in the current economical climate.

 

[Reverend Rick]

I know I am old and not with it, but I think anyone who posts all their personal information on facebook is an idiot. I don't have an account, and don't care what others do on facebook. Telling folks where you are all the time and when you will be out of town is just setting yourself up for a robbery.

My life is personal and I don't want some folks I hardly even know having all this information on me. Posting pictures of all your nice stuff in your house and announcing you will be away for the weekend or will be watching a movie at this particular location for the next 2 hours........

I guess people think posting pictures of yourself drunk on your butt half naked is good form until you miss out on that next great job opportunity. Employers look at your criminal record, your credit score and a bunch of things now and you all post all this stuff on face book.

I call it MyFace.

 

[Panda]

I guess people think posting pictures of yourself drunk on your butt half naked is good form until you miss out on that next great job opportunity. Employers look at your criminal record, your credit score and a bunch of things now and you all post all this stuff on face book.

That is why you make sure your facebook account is private, or even better just turn off the ability to search for you on Facebook, that way companies will get no results for you

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I know I am old and not with it, but I think anyone who posts all their personal information on facebook is an idiot. I don't have an account, and don't care what others do on facebook. Telling folks where you are all the time and when you will be out of town is just setting yourself up for a robbery.

My life is personal and I don't want some folks I hardly even know having all this information on me. Posting pictures of all your nice stuff in your house and announcing you will be away for the weekend or will be watching a movie at this particular location for the next 2 hours........

I guess people think posting pictures of yourself drunk on your butt half naked is good form until you miss out on that next great job opportunity. Employers look at your criminal record, your credit score and a bunch of things now and you all post all this stuff on face book.

I call it MyFace.

Facebook isn't just public information, though. A lot of people use the private message feature for, well, *private* messages. That might include, say, a private exchange between two siblings about a third sibling's drinking, or steamy notes between spouses, or other things that were never meant for public consumption and are none of a person's employer's business.

 

[Reverend Rick]

I like it when they leave their account open and I hop on their lap top!

 

[Panda]

I like it when they leave their account open and I hop on their lap top!

Frape time

Doing that at uni is deadly . Also lock laptop when you leave or you come back to interesting backgrounds and facebook statuses

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

And speaking for myself, I have nothing on my Facebook page that I'm ashamed of, but an employer even asking for my Facebook password would be a big red flag that they're not interested in respecting their employees.

It's like asking a prospective employee about their sexual orientation. Even if you're completely comfortable and open about it, the fact that an employer might make decisions based on it should set off all sorts of alarms.

 

[9Westy9]

I'd be surprised if employees actually agreed to give out their password.

 

[Reverend Rick]

I'd be surprised if employees actually agreed to give out their password.

I guess it would depend on the job. Some companies give you a credit card, expense account, car, nice office, great pay...... Just saying.