Job applicants required to turn over Facebook/Twitter passwords for interview?

What do you guys think of this ... reports that it's becoming more common for prospective employers to require applicants to turn over their social media passwords as part of the interview process?

The employers say it's a good way to weed out people that might be involved in illegal activities (I guess they mean drugs) and such.

Good, or bad? If you think it's good - do you think there's a line that shouldn't be crossed ... or would it ultimately be OK if they required passwords to email accounts and such as part of the interview process?

Might as well give them the keys to your house while you're at it. I hate that employers are allowed to ask for this type of information. A much better option would be to require them to friend someone from the company as part of the application process, but giving logins and passwords is ridiculous. If a company ever asks me for personal info like this I will walk out of the interview on the spot, and I have a very clean facebook with nothing I need to hide.

My guess is that what they are really looking for is indications of health problems either by the applicant or his/her family which would be considered highly undesirable for the hiring company. There is no such condition in my family, but I would decline their request and let the chips fall where they may.

Recently a teacher was fired, can't remember which state, bc they refused to give their password. Regardless of the situation, you'd need a court order to get mine.

[QUOTE=D Rock;503653]Might as well give them the keys to your house while you're at it. I hate that employers are allowed to ask for this type of information. [COLOR=#ff0000] A much better option would be to require them to friend someone from the company as part of the application process[/COLOR], but giving logins and passwords is ridiculous. If a company ever asks me for personal info like this I will walk out of the interview on the spot, and I have a very clean facebook with nothing I need to hide.[/QUOTE]
I think that's a perfectly acceptable solution. As long as they can see everything you've posted, there's no need for them to have your password. With identity theft and everything else, it should be illegal for an employer to demand your password for anything not directly related to the company. If you're using company computers, Internet, email, etc., the company has a right to monitor what you're doing and know your passwords. But they shouldn't have a right to know your non-work related passwords to sites like Facebook and Twitter.

[SIZE=2][COLOR=#ffd700]Me, I feel potential (or current) employers don't have ANY business knowing what's on an employee's FB. Show up to work, do a great job for the company and help them get more profits because you're the one there and not someone else ... what you post or do on your own time, as long as not illegal or in some way hurting the company, is absolutely not the company's business. The company is not the CIA or FBI, they have no right to look for "bad" stuff. What's next - not hiring someone because of their religion, or political leaning, or "quality" of their friends, or because they drink a lot on Saturday nights, or like the Steelers (in Baltimore!) ... unacceptability as determined by some low-level HR employee?

Come to think of it, it's even stupider than the company demanding your email password (though both are completely unacceptable in my book). At least you are in control of your own emails ... what's posted on your FB page is completely out of your control ... why should you be potentially barred from a job because, e.g., your brother-in-law posts a joke that is not corporately acceptable?

If we're not careful the momentum of the digital revolution will force us to give up the constitutional rights we won in our own revolution.

OMG, does this mean I've morphed into a Ron Paul fan??? [/COLOR]:shock:[/SIZE]

[QUOTE=SanAntonioSteelerFan;504053][SIZE=2][COLOR=#ffd700]Me, I feel potential (or current) employers don't have ANY business knowing what's on an employee's FB. Show up to work, do a great job for the company and help them get more profits because you're the one there and not someone else ... what you post or do on your own time, as long as not illegal or in some way hurting the company, is absolutely not the company's business. The company is not the CIA or FBI, they have no right to look for "bad" stuff. What's next - not hiring someone because of their religion, or political leaning, or "quality" of their friends, or because they drink a lot on Saturday nights, or like the Steelers (in Baltimore!) ... unacceptability as determined by some low-level HR employee?

Come to think of it, it's even stupider than the company demanding your email password (though both are completely unacceptable in my book). At least you are in control of your own emails ... what's posted on your FB page is completely out of your control ... why should you be potentially barred from a job because, e.g., your brother-in-law posts a joke that is not corporately acceptable?

If we're not careful the momentum of the digital revolution will force us to give up the constitutional rights we won in our own revolution.

OMG, does this mean I've morphed into a Ron Paul fan??? [/COLOR]:shock:[/SIZE][/QUOTE]


An individual gives away their freedom the minute they sign up for a Facebook account.

So does that mean that the terms of service for Facebook, Google, whatever else are unconstitutional? Why should the gov't step in and protect the freedoms individuals so willingly give away? Are we just too stupid in general? Do we need to be protected from ourselves?

They always say there's no such thing as a free lunch?