Bill introduced to stop employers & schools from demanding access to social network accounts.

source phys.org...

I do not see where it is any business of an employer or school. What next, the names of magazines and newspapers to which you subscribe?

Not a problem if you do not join a 'social network'.

Not only do they have no business asking for that information, but it's a strict violation of Facebook's TOS..

No one should have access to your private profile but you and perhaps law enforcement if you're suspected of criminal activity.

There's another level to this problem as well .. Anyone who divulges their profile to an employer ( or school ) also invades the privacy of all of the people in their friend list who may also be otherwise set to private.. That's not acceptable.

Now if you make the mistake of marking your profile public and your employer happens to find it.. then that's on you.

It's one of those situations where I think to myself "Gee, does there really HAVE to be a law about this?" .. but yes there does because employers are abusing it by forcing employees to hand that over as a condition of hire.

reply to post by oghamxx


it is a problem when they don't believe you.

Originally posted by BIHOTZ
reply to post by oghamxx

 

it is a problem when they don't believe you.

I solve this by having two social network profiles.. One is public and has my company e-mail address associated, the other is private and can't be found via search ( which is an option in Facebook at least ) which uses my private e-mail.. That is only for family and close friends.

If my employer demanded access to my facebook then I'd just give them my public account.. then probably resign in protest ( if I had another job possibility.. I'm not stupid )

We do not need a law for this, a complete utter waste of time and resources.

Here is how this is to be handled:

People grow some balls and tell the schools and employers to go to hell.

Originally posted by Skewed
We do not need a law for this, a complete utter waste of time and resources.

Here is how this is to be handled:

People grow some balls and tell the schools and employers to go to hell.

The problem is.. that doesn't work! .. many employers use that as a condition of hire.. if you don't give it up, you don't get the job.. and in this job market, that puts a lot of pressure on the employee who's in need of work, to hand it over.. A law is needed merely because the employer can't be trusted to not demand it.. it's not a fair position to put the employee in.

Originally posted by miniatus

Originally posted by Skewed
We do not need a law for this, a complete utter waste of time and resources.

Here is how this is to be handled:

People grow some balls and tell the schools and employers to go to hell.

The problem is.. that doesn't work! .. many employers use that as a condition of hire.. if you don't give it up, you don't get the job.. and in this job market, that puts a lot of pressure on the employee who's in need of work, to hand it over.. A law is needed merely because the employer can't be trusted to not demand it.. it's not a fair position to put the employee in.

I agree with you. But come on people.....this is not as difficult as it is made out to be. It is wrong, yes. But, either resist or just say you do not have one, although that could be unbelievable. Even still, people still need to stand up for themselves.

It is this sort of thing that makes governments big. Every little thing must have a law for or against it. When will people begin to start defending themselves instead of running to the government.

You mention that giving info is the basis for being hired, but if every single applicant had the intestinal fortitude to refuse, then the tables would turn. The employer would have to change their "requirements" because they would not be able to fill the position due to their immoral demands. Another perfect example of a divided nation. It would be called taking back our sovereignty.

Originally posted by Skewed
I agree with you. But come on people.....this is not as difficult as it is made out to be. It is wrong, yes. But, either resist or just say you do not have one, although that could be unbelievable. Even still, people still need to stand up for themselves.

It is this sort of thing that makes governments big. Every little thing must have a law for or against it. When will people begin to start defending themselves instead of running to the government.

You mention that giving info is the basis for being hired, but if every single applicant had the intestinal fortitude to refuse, then the tables would turn. The employer would have to change their "requirements" because they would not be able to fill the position due to their immoral demands. Another perfect example of a divided nation. It would be called taking back our sovereignty.

edit on 1-5-2012 by Skewed because: (no reason given)

In a perfect world this would be true.. but again, when you're in an economic situation like this and jobs are sparse.. you're less likely to tell a possible employer to shove it.. Some do.. but some people are also in a bind.. Many are mother's and father's trying to take care of their family.. The employer simply should respect privacy and not ask.. but they obviously aren't doing it.. If the job market were thriving, I think more people would be willing to say screw off ..

A friend of mine in Florida went 8 months looking for a job and even made the leap of catching a ride to Texas to be near family and try to find a job there as well .. when you go that long without work, you get a bit desperate ..

But I also go back to the fact that it violates facebook's TOS in the first place.. and facebook has said they are willing to sue employers that practice this... I'd love to see that happen.. it would only take once for small businesses to re-think their hiring policies.

reply to post by miniatus


Ok, I will concede, partially. Only as far as the employers go.

The schools on the other hand, there is absolutely no excuse for it. There is no excuse why the parents can not tell the school administrators to stick it. Although I ban my kids from fb, I know the reality of it, and they have one anyway. However, this came to my attention that one of the principals at their school does indeed intimidate students into giving their account info up.

I approached said principal and asked about it and he knew he was caught, as it was very difficult for him to give me a straight answer without fumbling. I told him, I would break his hands if he ever attempted to do that to my kids.

As I said, I concede my comments regarding refusing to give the info to prospective employers, but there is absolutely no way I can be convinced that the parents could not shut the schools administration down on this if they gained the intestinal fortitude to stand up to those people.

Perhaps I'm on a very different front with all of this here, but I'll be open and honest, I'm transgender. I mostly abbreviate my email accounts with the first name being the initial 'J' rather than use my actual name. Even so, I am an mtf and identify as female, so when I registered for an account, well, I used the name 'Jannette' not my legal first name. Jannette is of course, how I identify. So if an employer did decide to search for me, by my legal name, they wouldn't turn up a thing and I do also use a private email, and have my profile set to private...that and I don't think any of them would recognize me when I present as female, my friends didn't XD. Though I am quite naturally effeminate. Being trans and a lesbian is something that got out to one of my previous employers and I suspect that's why they fired me. They made something up (said I was sleeping in the break room, claimed they had video, I demanded to see the proof I was accused with and they folded to paying unemployment), even so...There's alot of people out there who don't want their gender identity if they're living in stealth or haven't transitioned exposed to employers as we DO live in a bigoted world where we could be turned down.

The way I see it is this. Work is work, your personal life is your personal life. It's none of their damn business what you do off the clock as long as it isn't impacting their business or your performance, right?

Too funny. Considering how much time and money the government spends scanning through and storing all that same information. Then they have the balls to give you hell and lock you up for not giving them the passwords they ask for.

reply to post by oghamxx


I agree with what everyone is saying about its none of their business. However when it comes to school and teacher / students / morons posting when they are going to shoot up the school it has some merit. I dont think it should be applied to college level though.

We are going to see this topic more and more as technology continues to take shape and penetrate the school setting. We are seeing some colleges getting rid of the cumbersome text books, instead opting into the electronic book setup for laptops / pc / smart-phone / pda's etc.

Teachers / Administrators at the grade schools / high school levels fall under a goofy term called -

In Loco Parentis

The term in loco parentis, Latin for "in the place of a parent""[1] refers to the legal responsibility of a person or organization to take on some of the functions and responsibilities of a parent. Originally derived from English common law, it is applied in two separate areas of the law.

First, it allows institutions such as colleges and schools to act in the best interests of the students as they see fit, although not allowing what would be considered violations of the students' civil liberties.[1]

So to an extent I understand and agree with the lower level school requirements.

reply to post by Xcathdra


My solution to the whole issue is to simply turn the internet off at school, unless there is a reason to have it to do research. As it is, the students are in class texting when they should be paying attention.