In a recent event in the media, it has been uncovered by several individuals in this first article from Gizmodo that prospective employees for positions within a company are being asked to give their interviewers their private login information for their Facebook accounts. While it is not uncommon to hear that an employer may use an individual’s public Facebook profile as a basis of a background check, it has only been until recent that there have been instances where information regarding an individual’s login credentials have been asked. In the source link below, an article written by Tony Romm entitled “Senator: Ban bosses from asking for Facebook passwords” is a response to the storm of controversy that was raised when companies were revealed to be asking this information.
This kind of invasion of privacy can be a huge deterrence to potential interviewees because they don’t want their personal lives invaded without their permission. It is my belief that there should be a separation between the workplace and my social life, but at the same time I do not empathize with people who do not hire individuals based on their posts on Facebook. I’ve made it my decision that if a company has something to dispute over my personal life that they’ve discovered on Facebook well before I decided I wanted to interview with them, then that type of work environment is not the best for me in the first place. I want to be able to express who I am without fear of being ridiculed for things I do in my free time.