If you post on facebook, it's public information and the prospective employer has every right to review what is posted . However, asking for a user's password is way beyond reasonable, and I would consider it a personal invasion. Unless I was truly desparate for a job with this particular company, I would walk out of the interview.

For jobs like we're talking about such a firefighter or police officer the answer is a categorical YES! You should obtain full disclosure, back ground investigations, polygraph, personality scrutinization, etc. for any position that exposes the potential employee to the public's trust. These are people we are allowing into our homes and the most private areas of our lives when we are the most vulnerable. Anyone can behave for 30 minutes during a face-to-face interview. Facebook tells all, and for positions where our safety and trust is placed in someone for our safety and well being, we need to know all!

No. It is asking me to open myself up for risk. And in some cases asking me to violate a contract with my provider. If the a law enforcement agency needs legitmate access for an investigaton, there are already provisions for cooperating with them.

Now I wonder if during a job interview if your penalized for not having a Facebook or Twitter account… And given this intrusion, why would I ever want one?

Not a chance. I'd rather not get the job than this intrusion into my civil liberties. Pretty soon we'll have no rights left.

Do I give them a key to my mailbox and let them read personal mail too? Messages are private and in some cases have replaces mail. Friending them, maybe.

Do they have a right to view your public page? YES. Do they have a right to your personal page? NO. Do they have a right to your login and password? Double NO. Do they ask to read your daughters diary, and requested for you to open to page 5 of her diary? If then no, then they have no right as an employer to see your private info. Of course anything that is made 'public' is fair game, but there is NO right for any employer to request to see private pages of your daughter's diary, etc. WALK out of the interview office and REPORT them to a higher department, or even all of the way to the supreme court! totally illegal process.

All of these social networking sites cause more problems than good. Rumors and lies travel a lot faster and spread further on this information highway.

I think it is better for people to not have these sites or if you have too administer the proper controls to protect themselves, their information, and reputation.

If it is behind a password, absolutely NOT. It is illegal to ask about relationship status, home life, etc etc in an interview. Why would it be legal to go behind a password to find that information? Your address is also public - can they come snoop around your house? Check your email? Read your medical records? The line has to be drawn. It is an invasion of privacy and should be ILLEGAL.

Gods help me, I hope I never need a job that bad. My account is private for a reason - and if they have to see pictures of my nephew or the status of my mom's health-care checkup, they're not the kind of firm I'd want to work for.

Facebook speaks out:

http://mashable.com/2012/03/23/facebook-responds-employers-passwords/

The problem here is the employers' lack of understanding of the basic concept of the social web. They see it as a threat to their reputation or brand, not as something that enhances the lives of their employees or potential employees. The medium is driven by conversation; punishing someone for a comment made in a closed network -- like many Facebook accounts -- is like punishing someone for saying hello to a person they bump into at the grocery store. Comments made in a public stream like Twitter are, understandably, open to a bit more scrutiny. But trying to police someone's social behavior -- in digital or real space -- is unproductive, unfair and unhealthy for a company (nonprofit, government agency, whatever) that wants a diverse group of happy employees.

I tend to agree with Olivier Blanchard (@thebrandbuilder) that employers, when building their social media programs, start with an employee's bill of rights -- one that includes the right to privacy: http://bit.ly/GJLliu

no.. the problem is not employers. The problem is people who love FB so much that they do not think of the potentials downstream.

It's not only about prospective employers, it's about CURRENT employers.

When you "share" your life with others... you will also share it with employers unless you lock down your account and even then your employer may tell you that a condition of employment is to allow them to 'monitor' your life away from work.

you like FB? good. I hope you like this aspect also! :-)

In response to "What?'s" concerns: My name is Craig Evans and I am the president of the City of Fairfax Professional Firefighters and Paramedics. I work as a lieutenant in the fire department. It is not the city's policy to obtain your Facebook, or any other social network, password as a condition of employment. There are background checks and a polygraph for the fire and police department, but not for other city positions. We do have an ethics policy and behavior that would be deemed as unethical or a compromise to the public's trust is not tolerated. Please do not construe any of my comments as those of the City of Fairfax. I do speak for the employees of the fire department however and I can tell you that anyone who displays unethical behavior on a social network is probably not a good fit for our organization. I truly believe as citizens we have a right to privacy, but I also believe if we would like to be in positions of trust in the community we should be willing to give up some of those rights. I hope I have not offended you in any manner. That was not my intent. I was only attempting to explain the importance of knowing who you are hiring for certain positions. I Thank-you for your comments and the opportunity to clarify myself.

I don't have a facebook account and will never have one. You shouldn't either.

John,

Excellent points. I was not thinking beyond only seeing the type of posts and interactions someone may be having on Facebook. When a potential employee undergoes a background investigation for a specific position in government, whether it be local or national government, their friends and family are not put under the same scrutiny as the applicant. Speaking for myself, I would have no issues with my employer looking at my Facebook, but I agree that would be an individual decision and we would not want an employer or the government mandating such an intrusion. Keep in mind I am only speaking about positions of public trust. My argument is all centered around assuring we have ethical, trustworthy people in public safety positions. I think we can all agree that is important. How we choose such people has been a point of contention for a long time. As Kari said earlier, the person who could come up with the perfect formula for that would be rich. I wish I had the answer. Great discussion!

Facebook is just another medium of communication and socialization. Instead of hosting a cocktail party at your house, you converse online. Instead of having grandma over to flip through the pages of that new photo album you just made of the kids, you show the photos to her online. Instead of debating with your friends about a political issue at the backyard bbq, you debate on the facebook wall. You don't invite an employer into your facebook account any more than you would invite them in to view your photo albums and have a beer and discuss politics in the backyard. There is no reason EVER for an employer to get into a facebook site. Big brother has gone too far. What would our founding fathers think of this invasion of privacy?

Craig,

As a fellow member of the fire service and a current Fire Chief, as much as I WANT to support your position, I can't. By REQUIRING an applicant to give out their Facebook (or any other social media) password, let alone login into during an interview, is an infringement of one’s privacy. Regardless if the applicant is vying for a public safety job. There are other ways we can conduct background checks without having access to a Facbook Account.

My department has a Social Media Policy but it does not ask for passwords, etc. We have a Code of Ethics but it doesn’t ask for social media passwords. It works.

For me, the only reason for having a Facebook Account is to keep track of my son’s account. His Account is “private” (I believe that’s what it’s called). So no, as a parent, I will protect a minor child over a job any day of the week by not giving out or allow access to my Facebook Account to any prospective or current employer!

We can agree to disagree but at some point, what is private must and shall stay private.

I'm not a Facebook user but feel that users should have rights to privacy. I realize that anything written in electronic format risks that privacy, but still value and would protect privacy rights. A personal account could share information about prior breast cancer or some other personal issue and people should be able to limit access of that information.

i ha.ve tried to contact facebbook as a matter of urgency to no avail. doesnt ha ve an email address or phone number. think it is so unfair especially when you need their help urgently.

Using information on FB opens up employers, both private and public, to potential discrimination lawsuits. Employers could possibly disqualify a perfectly capable candidate because of their political or religious beliefs. This is not where an employer wants to go, they have so much more to lose than we do.

Personally, I will never, ever give access to my FB page. If you want information on me, see my professional site on LinkedIn. You are hiring me based upon qualifications. NOT my personal life. Hiring an employee is a risk. Working for a company is a risk. Suck it up, employers.

On the upside, a majority of HR folk say they don't have the time to go and search FB pages. It's hard enough just to find the right qualifications, without qualifying the qualified.

LOL - just read the link posted by the represenatative from Fairfax. Yes, age discrimination, also (important for those of us who don't look our age! :-D). Employers are well advised - as any legal counsel will tell you - don't go there.