Employers/Facebook

Brian Lighthouse

Hello,

If this has happened to you please PM me.

In a job interview; a prospective employer asked you for your facebook log in details.

more here:
http://www.limerickleader.ie/news/local/mep-kelly-raps-employers-over-facebook-demands-1-4525931

Thanks
Brian

Itsdacraic

Sounds like a load bullsh1t to me.

Can't imagine any employer asking that, let alone an employee actually giving them that information.

If your employer asked you for a copy of your house key to see what you had in your wardrobe would you give it to them?

Kess73

Itsdacraic wrote: »

Sounds like a load bullsh1t to me.

Can't imagine any employer asking that, let alone an employee actually giving them that information.

If your employer asked you for a copy of your house key to see what you had in your wardrobe would you give it to them?

Has become very common for employers to ask that question in the US and UK for a number of years now, and it has come into the Irish job market in a fairly noticeable manner this year, no doubt to become an even more common thing as time goes by.

MarkR

I have heard of it in the news, but nothing first, or even second hand. I've interviewed people for my company, and wouldn't dream of doing it.

I doubt it would be any of the multinationals, anyone heard about a particular company doing this?

ZombieBride

Facebook have loosen their privacy again, joys, so anything that you comment/like on in one of your friends profiles will show up in another one of your friends newsfeeds (even if the two of them aren't friends and the first friend have their privacy settings locked down) off to Google+ with me (haha as if!). So if you are worried about your privacy then don't post on facebook to begin with.

Until someone says that this happened to them personally I am going to put it down to an urban myth.

roast

ZombieBride wrote: »

Until someone says that this happened to them personally I am going to put it down to an urban myth.

Yeah, same here. I'm pretty sceptical any employer would do that.

It's certainly possible that employers would check up on potential employees facebook timelines/walls though. People post some insanely personal stuff on facebook, without making it private.

ZombieBride

I can see them doing that Roast, but not asking for login, aren't we all constantly being warned not to give anyone our passwords?!

MrTsSnickers

ZombieBride wrote: »

I can see them doing that Roast, but not asking for login, aren't we all constantly being warned not to give anyone our passwords?!

Think that it's against Facebook's terms and conditions to give your username and password. I think I heard that somewhere.

roast

ZombieBride wrote: »

I can see them doing that Roast, but not asking for login,

That's what I mean, viewing peoples public posts.

roast

Slightly off the original topic, but here's a related example anyway.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-57548077-71/racist-anti-obama-facebook-post-gets-woman-fired/

She claims that her facebook page was set to private. I highly doubt that was the case.
Even if it was set to private, a little common sense when posting political opinions would be advisable, especially if work colleagues or employers are your "friends".

Itsdacraic

Next time I'm conducting an interview I might ask the candidate for their facebook details. If they give them to me, I'll inform them they have not been successful in the interview because they are obviously an idiot.

stephanied83

It would be a bit stupid of an employer to do this imo, they could potentially discover information that could leave them open to discrimination cases... family status, marital status, sexual orientation etc.

I say give them your details then take a case when you don't get the job. Can't see them being able to rebut an accusation when they have practices like that!

zuroph

stephanied83 wrote: »

It would be a bit stupid of an employer to do this imo, they could potentially discover information that could leave them open to discrimination cases... family status, marital status, sexual orientation etc.

I say give them your details then take a case when you don't get the job. Can't see them being able to rebut an accusation when they have practices like that!

lol, just no. if you give them your details, you consented. instead, dont give them, and take a case

stephanied83

zuroph wrote: »

lol, just no. if you give them your details, you consented. instead, dont give them, and take a case

Nope not at all, that's not how the employment equality legislation works. You may be consenting to them having your information but it would still be in breach of legislation for them to use this in their selection criteria. That's a whole other thread though

Brian Lighthouse

I asked initially to know if this really had happened to someone in Limerick. However there is another aspect to it.

The case involving the UK student who faced extradition charges to the US, Richard O`Dwyer; who set up a search engine for users to be directed to sites containing illegally downloaded material was another aspect to my question.

It appears that an argument is being made where; all websites with the suffix: .com, .info, .org and .net for example, as opposed to .ie, .co.uk, etc are subject to US law.

This has yet to be tested in the courts, however it seems a compromise has been reached in O`Dwyer`s case, just 5 hours ago (after my original post):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-20525891

I would really like to know if anyone has been affected by anything they post on a US based website.
I do know of a person who was refused a full-time position due to material they posted on a social networking site almost four years previous to the job interview.

This is an entirely new era for all of us and it would be wise to protect yourself as much as possible. It would be prudent to remember that when you "post" something online that you are subject to the Defamation Act 2009 within Ireland, but may also be subject to US law if using a site that originates within the US. A bit of a headwreck I know, however here is a good synopsis:
www.williamfry.ie/publication-article/social_media_-_applicable_libel_and_privacy_laws_in_ireland.aspx

So if anyone of you has been asked for details of access to your social media accounts, please PM me.

Thanks

Brian

Insect Overlord

Brian Lighthouse wrote: »

I asked initially to know if this really had happened to someone in Limerick.

...

So if anyone of you has been asked for details of access to your social media accounts, please PM me.

Seeing as this isn't a Limerick issue, I think we can leave it at that. Closed.