U.S. companies asking job applicants for Facebook passwords?

[slycordinator]

And what becomes public record? The data collected on you, by private companies, through your actions, which you either agree to, most likely unknowingly, or through public information. It's often sold to other parties, thus becoming "public."

I was talking about things that are public record by their very nature. Heck, public record means that the record in question is maintained by the government and made freely available to the public for scrutiny. For instance, your driving and criminal records never "became" public record. It would be no different than if someone went to the State of Washington to look up my expired Nursing Assistant Certification license, because all of those are matters of public record.

[Scheavo]

And what becomes public record? The data collected on you, by private companies, through your actions, which you either agree to, most likely unknowingly, or through public information. It's often sold to other parties, thus becoming "public."

I was talking about things that are public record by their very nature. Heck, public record means that the record in question is maintained by the government and made freely available to the public for scrutiny. For instance, your driving and criminal records never "became" public record. It would be no different than if someone went to the State of Washington to look up my expired Nursing Assistant Certification license, because all of those are matters of public record.

The information is publicly available, even if it's from a private company. As employers have mentioned here, it can be standard procedure. I guess I just don't see the pragmatic difference between private companies doing it, and government doing it .

[ehra]

https://www.v3.co.uk/v3-uk/news/2164504/facebook-password-protection-law-shot-congress

The US House of Representatives has shot down proposals which would have prevented businesses from collecting Facebook log on credentials as part of their employee vetting procedures.

The law had been proposed by Colorado representative Daniel Perlmutter.

Perimutter suggested that the proposals would have given an important measure of privacy to end users.

"No American should have to provide their confidential personal passwords as a condition of employment," Perlmutter said.

"Both users of social media and those who correspond share the expectation of privacy in their personal communications."

The act had been offered by Perlmutter as an amendment to a proposed overhaul of the FCC Reform Act bill.

It was defeated by 236 votes to 184.

Access to Facebook accounts by employers has been a hotly debated topic in recent days as reports have surfaced of firms requiring users to hand over passwords for Facebook and other social networking platforms.

Facebook has maintained that such account access is a violation of its terms of service and encouraged users not to hand over their passwords.

Both Facebook and civil rights groups have expressed concern that accessing account details can also leave companies vulnerable to discrimination suits.

Earlier this week, a pair of US Senators urged their peers to limit employee account access.

[Orbert]

The House shot it down?!  I really hope that it's because the bill, as written, was poorly worded and/or unenforceable or something.  I know, I could read the article and maybe find out, but I'm too pissed to bother.

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

I know. WTF