Topical Issue – One issue that is generating a lot of interest in the US is prospective employers asking job seekers for their username and passwords. Using this information employers are able to log into job seekers’ Facebook accounts and use their findings to help determine suitability of job seeker for the role. On one site I saw at least a thousand comments on the issue. It seems to be a very emotive issue at the moment.
South Africa – I have spoken to a few people in South Africa and this seems to be an issue here as well. Just how legal is this issue? Of course the laws will vary from place to place but it would be interesting to get perspectives from different countries that might be experiencing this practice. What are the experiences like in other parts of Africa? I am very keen to find out.
Legislation vs Technology – The unfortunate thing is that legislation and governance usually lag behind technology. The faster pace at which technology is changing has increased this lag. Lawmakers have to be move with greater speed in putting in place laws. Not only that, when they put these laws in place they should take a strategic view, looking at the long term. A knee jerk reaction can result in laws that seem to address the issues at hand but are rendered unsuitable or archaic within a very short time.
Facebook Stance – Facebook has earned some praise from its users for warning employers about requesting users’ passwords. Given all the slack that Facebook has taken for privacy issues in previous years it’s great to see the company on the user’s side. Facebook has threatened legal action against applications that might go against its long standing policy of sharing passwords.
Legality of requests checked – Now 2 Senators in the US have approached the Attorney General with a view to probe the legality of these requests by employers. Given the privacy of Facebook mail and other aspects of the profile it seems quite surprising that employers could get away with asking for users passwords. Why not ask for users’ housekeys while we are at it.
How did we get here? – How is it that such a trend or development where employers can request users’ passwords has gone unchecked in such a superpower as the United States? How did employers get so much power? Is it possible that in the economy the US was experiencing the employers have realised just how much power they have in the job market where there have been such few jobs compared to the job-seekers.
Risk Management – It is a given that users’ social media activities can pose significant risks to a company. However, these risks should be managed in such a way that individuals rights to privacy are not infringed. Is this practice by some employers of requesting passwords in interviews consistent with labour law and practice? Is it permissible according to company policy? Every company should have social media policy which provides over guidance in terms of how employees engage on Social Media with regards to the company’s brand. In an effort to manage the company’s risk, could the Human Resources function be exposing the company to even greater risk with this practice of requesting passwords?
Where do we go from here? – I will definitely be watching this space with keen interest for further developments. While here in Africa we may be talking about other more pressing issues, I am sure that these events will affect us in one way or another. Facebook is one of the most popular sites in several countries around the world. It’s userbase is closing in on the one billion mark.
