Employer background check on facebook...

[bobdole369]

if you need the money then give them access; use all the privacy shit to restrict what they see as best you can. i.e. photos; wall;

then complain to your state once she's past her probationary period.

About what exactly?

 

[Blackjack200]

Yea, I think I agree with this. It's that old slippery slope. The drug tests I really didn't have a big problem with, not because I agree with them, but because I have nothing to hide. But the slippery slope is dangerous and I guess this is why we fight things on principle and not the actual affect it has on us.

I have a big problem with drug tests, and i don't use either. The company has absolutley no right to ask about what I do, in privacy, off the clock. Whether it's drugs, downloading torrents, drinking, smoking, eating unhealthy food, looking at porn, none of this has any impact on my job performance, and if it does, then fire me because my job performance has been impacted.

There is a recognized legal right to privacy to emails. There is no such right to privacy to a facebook account AFAIK since its a public forum (to varying degrees, depending on your privacy settings).

I'm not a lawyer, but my layperson view is that facebook accounts are not public. You have explicit controls on your facebook page to limit public facing information. Employers want to snoop at the public facing part? I have no problem with that. The moment they are compelling to you provide access to non-public portions (i.e. areas that only "friends" would see) I think that crosses a big line.

It's not bullshit IMHO.

It's a background check, and one of the best ways to do that is to look into your personal life...which YOU posted online. Many people get denied jobs that require maturity, integrity, and other such qualities because of FB pics or entries. It's online FFS.

Your webmail, cloud stored data etc. are all online as well, that is irrelavent. Backround checks are fine. Credit reporting is public information. Criminal records are public information.

 

[bobdole369]

There is a recognized legal right to privacy to emails. There is no such right to privacy to a facebook account AFAIK since its a public forum (to varying degrees, depending on your privacy settings).

No there really isn't. Privacy on phone calls is well respected (at least legally) in the workplace, but not so much on emails. Especially emails on a corporate account. Those belong to the company.

 

[DrPizza]

She played her move wrong already.

She should've said she has no FB. If they ask, "Isn't that you?" You simply say no, someone else with same name.

They have like 12 matches of my name.

You're not serious, are you? In the vast majority of cases, it's not hard to know with at least 95% certainty that you have the right person. Facebook is designed that way - so people can find each other easily.

It all start with you. You don't post stupid crap to begin with, you won't have problems.

That's the best advice posted in this thread. Every couple weeks, someone comes crawling up to the moderators, begging us to delete their account because they're applying for a job & a quick look online connects their real name to the username they use, and they posted stuff when they were immature, drunk, whatever, that they don't want an employer to see.

Don't want a potential employer to see it? Then don't post it, period.

 

[Corporate Thug]

No there really isn't. Privacy on phone calls is well respected (at least legally) in the workplace, but not so much on emails. Especially emails on a corporate account. Those belong to the company.

I'm not talking about workplace emails...company owner pretty much owns all content on the computer. I was referring to personal emails.

 

[Blieb]

I'm with you cuda ... it's bs ... but if she wants the gig ... she has to play by their rules ...

She should un-friend them after background check is complete.

 

[slayer202]

That's the best advice posted in this thread. Every couple weeks, someone comes crawling up to the moderators, begging us to delete their account because they're applying for a job & a quick look online connects their real name to the username they use, and they posted stuff when they were immature, drunk, whatever, that they don't want an employer to see.

Don't want a potential employer to see it? Then don't post it, period.

and what's the problem with just deleting the account if requested?

 

[bobdole369]

You're not serious, are you? In the vast majority of cases, it's not hard to know with at least 95% certainty that you have the right person. Facebook is designed that way - so people can find each other easily.


That's the best advice posted in this thread. Every couple weeks, someone comes crawling up to the moderators, begging us to delete their account because they're applying for a job & a quick look online connects their real name to the username they use, and they posted stuff when they were immature, drunk, whatever, that they don't want an employer to see.

Don't want a potential employer to see it? Then don't post it, period.

Back in the day you use to have to worry about your appearance on the street. It's sort of why libel and slander laws were created. You had a social reputation to uphold. People didn't have a billion distractions so they talked about - well the people they knew. Nowadays its all written down to be found.

Don't post bullshit and you won't get called out for it.

 

[bobdole369]

I'm not talking about workplace emails...company owner pretty much owns all content on the computer. I was referring to personal emails.

nods - right on.

 

[Corporate Thug]

I have a big problem with drug tests, and i don't use either. The company has absolutley no right to ask about what I do, in privacy, off the clock. Whether it's drugs, downloading torrents, drinking, smoking, eating unhealthy food, looking at porn, none of this has any impact on my job performance, and if it does, then fire me because my job performance has been impacted.



I'm not a lawyer, but my layperson view is that facebook accounts are not public. You have explicit controls on your facebook page to limit public facing information. Employers want to snoop at the public facing part? I have no problem with that. The moment they are compelling to you provide access to non-public portions (i.e. areas that only "friends" would see) I think that crosses a big line.



Your webmail, cloud stored data etc. are all online as well, that is irrelavent. Backround checks are fine. Credit reporting is public information. Criminal records are public information.

I don't know of any legal precedent but I think the FB accounts of psuedo public depending on your privacy settings. Regardless, if an employer can ask you for medical records, which is clearly public, why can't they request access to your facebook account? The other difference between FB accounts and email is that an argument can be made that the FB account is somewhat related to the job (i.e. the employer does not want to tarnish its image, etc. -- like a police department hiring someone who has pictures on FB with a bong or something along those lines) as where emails don't run the same risk (the emails likely do not have anything to do with the employer but are rather communications between 2 or more individuals).

 

[Corporate Thug]

On a side note, I was watching this documentary where a Sheriff's Department in some county in TX arrested a person who they had a warrant out on when she wrote on her friend's wall that she will be back in TX to go to her high school reunion 😛

 

[highland145]

On a side note, I was watching this documentary where a Sheriff's Department in some county in TX arrested a person who they had a warrant out on when she wrote on her friend's wall that she will be back in TX to go to her high school reunion 😛

lol, win.

 

[lokiju]

LOLOL
The facebook profile is probably about 10 times more valid of a method of checking someone's background than a polygraph. Actually, nearly infinitely times more valid - as there's very little validity to polygraphs. (By the way, has a polygraph test ever caught a spy subjected to routine polygraph tests? Answer: no.)

Depending on what part of the county government she's working for, there may be a LOT of reasons for such a background check. i.e. suppose someone were working for the sheriff's department and it wasn't until the prosecutor lost a major case for technical errors that someone realized the person in the background making the blunders was a member of a gang. Now, I'm sure your wife isn't a gang member, but there are plenty of other reasons.

The nice thing about it is - at least the county government is being honest about it. There are plenty of ways of getting that information without your knowledge. Regardless of your "privacy" setting, if you post it online, it's out there.

This is also something that came to mind when I read the OP.

I know there are a lot of ways they can get this info without you knowing exactly how or what they're seeing.

At least you know they're doing it like this.

But I do think it's complete BS to HAVE to friend your employer.

Not a fan of Face Book. I have my "real" account with real friends and family but mostly only use it for playing games with them like Words and Hanging with Friends.

I have my throw away FB account for everything else.

 

[slayer202]

Drug test I can understand, that's S.O.P. Polygraph I was a bit hesitant about, but I suppose they want to make sure she is being truthful about employment history etc... Psych eval... Well she is taking a position where she works closely with children and families, so ok, I can see why that would be important.

With FB though, if its set to private, no one can see it - why should they be concerned beyond that? *shrugs* It's not the end of the world, like I said she doesn't really have anything to hide, I just think companies are really starting to cross a line here.

The drug and psych tests are not much different. Your facebook profile may be private, but so is your drug habit and mental state. The facebook profile can reveal things about a person; It's not about what information is or isn't public. I think the drug test is most offensive of the group, but all involve a loss of privacy

 

[her209]

Pretty soon they'll want the username and passwords to all your e-mail accounts.

 

[Blackjack200]

I don't know of any legal precedent but I think the FB accounts of psuedo public depending on your privacy settings. Regardless, if an employer can ask you for medical records, which is clearly public, why can't they request access to your facebook account? The other difference between FB accounts and email is that an argument can be made that the FB account is somewhat related to the job (i.e. the employer does not want to tarnish its image, etc. -- like a police department hiring someone who has pictures on FB with a bong or something along those lines) as where emails don't run the same risk (the emails likely do not have anything to do with the employer but are rather communications between 2 or more individuals).

I don't think employers should be able to request medical records either, unless they can demonstrate a need.

I still don't see an effective difference between email and FB. If the cop has pictures of himself smoking a bong on FB, but it's not public, how is that different from the picture being on a private photobucket album or being sent from individual to individual on email?

In both cases you have a limited audiance that can see the picture, and the risk that any of those people could publish the image in public.

 

[slag]

:thumbsup: x 1,000

People need to get off of the social network craze.

I don't care if Facebook assisted in giving Egypt it's freedom or that MySpace delivered a baby in the back of taxi cab during a traffic jam. It all needs to be tossed out.

But, every mother fucker with a computer wants to be an internet star/sensation.

I don't think you fully grasp all the reasons people use facebook.

I use facebook to share baby pictures and chat with my family who live in other cities/states than I do. I use Facebook to share a funny youtube video or picture I've "found" on the internet with my close knit friends. I use facebook to interact with old high school and college friends and plan get togethers.

It has nothing to do with internet stardom or anything like that and you paint too broad a stroke with that brush you have. Facebook and other social network sites have brought a lot of people closer to me, people who, because of distances and time, have been forgotten or I've otherwise lost contact info from. Its a valuable tool, but it is personal and I wouldn't allow my employer access to my account simply because they asked because it is personal and none of their business.

 

[Fingolfin269]

Pretty soon they'll want the username and passwords to all your e-mail accounts.

Or the pass code to your cell phone (if you use one) so they can read all of your texts.

 

[Corporate Thug]

I don't think employers should be able to request medical records either, unless they can demonstrate a need.

I still don't see an effective difference between email and FB. If the cop has pictures of himself smoking a bong on FB, but it's not public, how is that different from the picture being on a private photobucket album or being sent from individual to individual on email?

In both cases you have a limited audiance that can see the picture, and the risk that any of those people could publish the image in public.

whether privacy rights apply depends on whether there is a "reasonable expectation of privacy" recognized by society. I think it's a much easier sell to say there is a higher expectation of privacy for email that are targeted to usually one other person, perhaps a handful, versus a public website with allows for adjusting to the privacy setting (as where the emails are private by default). Like I said, I'm not aware of any cases regarding facebook and privacy but with the changing societal norms, who knows what the courts would say?

Just in case anyone is super bored:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katz_v._United_States

 

[Corporate Thug]

anyone mind if share this thread on facebook?

 

[DaWhim]

what's the fuss? tell your wife to add that fb account and put it under acquaintance and limit the access.

 

[SKORPI0]

what's the fuss? tell your wife to add that fb account and put it under acquaintance and limit the access.

This. Did that to some of my acquaintances. Also made it so people cannot add me as their "friends", they have to make a request. But this days, I rarely visit my FB page.

 

[Leros]

I'd just reject the job offer. The employer clearly doesn't respect their employees.

 

[disappoint]

I don't know of any legal precedent but I think the FB accounts of psuedo public depending on your privacy settings. Regardless, if an employer can ask you for medical records, which is clearly public, why can't they request access to your facebook account? The other difference between FB accounts and email is that an argument can be made that the FB account is somewhat related to the job (i.e. the employer does not want to tarnish its image, etc. -- like a police department hiring someone who has pictures on FB with a bong or something along those lines) as where emails don't run the same risk (the emails likely do not have anything to do with the employer but are rather communications between 2 or more individuals).

Since when are your medical records public?

 

[Corporate Thug]

I'd just reject the job offer. The employer clearly doesn't respect their employees.

I hope you're kidding...