Should An Employer Ever Ask for A Facebook Password?

As a society, we have largely come to terms with our collective decision to sacrifice personal privacy for convenience. As the implications begin to be felt at a more specific level having to do with what it really means for job prospects, auto loans, health care and other essentials of normal life, there some question whether we actually meant we didnt value all that stuff. The attitude and the conclusions are by no means monolithic.

By Matt Wilson at Ragan.com:


"Many say Maryland’s Division of Correction should not have asked for job applicant's Facebook password; some say the request could be warranted in certain instances.

If an employer asked you to cough up your Facebook password for the sake of security, would you do it?

For officer Robert Collins, a request for his Facebook password was so disquieting that the American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter on his behalf to the Maryland Division of Correction, the government agency that asked Collins for his login information. The division is part of the state’s Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.

The ACLU called the request a “frightening and illegal invasion of privacy,” and over the weekend, the Atlantic picked up on the dispute. In the following days, bloggers and commentators have debated whether the request for login information could be justified. Many say there's no circumstance in which it could.

“This should not be permitted,” blogger Neville Hobson said on his For Immediate Release podcast. “I can't see any circumstance, frankly, for an organization to require login access to someone's Facebook account as a prerequisite for employment.”

Hobson said the only scenarios in which someone should divulge his or her Facebook password is if he or she does so willingly, or if a court orders it.

Hobson's co-host, Shel Holtz of Holtz Communication + Technology, said it's more of an “it depends” scenario, though asking for a Facebook password would have to be very rare, and there would have to be some ground rules. For instance, the employer shouldn't have access to the applicant's Facebook account after a certain amount of time.

“They don't leave the lie detector on you 24/7, they're not with your family or friends every day,” Holtz said. The employer should at least say, “When we're done, change your password.”

Is it legal?

Attorney Molly DiBianca of Young Conaway Stargatt &Taylor, who blogged about the case, says the request isn't illegal, but it is “ridiculous”—and bad PR for the Maryland DOC.

Attorney Bruce Johnson of Davis Wright Tremaine said the request almost certainly is a violation of Facebook's terms of service, however, and could “result in the prospective employee being booted off Facebook.” The social network’s terms clearly state that users should not give their passwords to anyone.

Johnson also says there is a “First Amendment danger” in the Maryland DOC's request. “Here are cases preventing the government from snooping into citizens' library activities, and most recently a federal court told North Carolina it had no business demanding that Amazon turn over private information about its residents' book-buying habits,” he says. “This situation appears to be no different.”

Is it ethical?

Sean Williams of CommunicationAMMO said he couldn't think of any situation in which it would be right for a company to ask for any login. “I wonder what their rationale is for asking,” he says. “Criminal background checks and reference checks will be more effective at discovering salient
information.”

Williams said the overriding sentiment that it’s a bad practice resounds in the online discussion comparing examining an applicant’s Facebook account to opening his or her mail.

Chip Griffin, chief digital officer at DCI Group, said the Maryland case is a special one, however, because Collins was applying for a law enforcement position. “Although it could have a chilling effect on the Facebook activity of corrections and law enforcement officers, it may be that the public safety aspect outweighs that concern,” he says.

However, it all depends on how the employer uses the information gleaned from a Facebook account, Griffin adds. “If they exclude potential hires for things that are merely embarrassing, that is a greater concern than if it is used to uncover things that pose more substantial [threats].”

This isn't the first time an employer has asked for a Facebook login. Holtz pointed out a November USA Today story about police departments that ask employees to hand over their passwords, and in June 2009, the city of Bozeman, Mont., required employees to give login information for Facebook and other sites. That policy lasted less than a day.

Still, communicator Chris Reed says he wouldn't be surprised if more employers start asking for login information to ensure employees aren't violating fair use and social media policies.

Alternatives

DiBianca says employers could instead ask employees to send them friend requests and allow them to look at their profiles for 24 hours. In the worst case, the employer could ask an applicant to log in to his or her account in front of a human resources representative, she says. Either way, applicants should be notified in advance of the intent to look at their Facebook pages and what the employer plans to look for.

Reed says he suspects there isn't another way to ensure employees aren't using Facebook to send sensitive corporate information, however.

“I think the issue of personal privacy versus corporate sensitivity is one that a lot of employers are going to have to wrestle with,” he says. Particularly now that Facebook Messages is being rolled out, complete with easy file-sharing, drag and drop technology, and a very good IM system.”

Employees may find it easier to send messages via Facebook than by e-mail, he says, which could rightly cause some angst among managers.

“While updated fair use and social media policies might prevent some use of Facebook for what is essentially corporate communications, I wouldn't be surprised if more employers consider restricting access to Facebook as a result of these improvements to messages,” Reed says. “They just won't want employees to take that chance.”