Illinois bars employers from asking passwords to social sites

[Deleted]

The link:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1730396.html

The article:
"CHICAGO -- Seeking to guard the privacy rights of the social networking generation, Illinois is making it illegal for employers to ask job applicants for passwords to their online profiles.

Gov. Pat Quinn signed the law Wednesday at the Illinois Institute of Technology, where several students lamented that online snooping by bosses has caused some to lose out on jobs and forced others to temporarily deactivate their online profiles.

Illinois is only the second state to have such a law on the books, and it leaves no exceptions – even for openings that require thorough background checks.

In their efforts to vet job applicants, some companies and government agencies have started asking for passwords to log in to a prospective employee's accounts on social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter. Civil liberties groups, social media users and others have criticized the practice as a serious invasion of privacy, likening it to handing over the keys to your house.

"Especially in times like this when there are not a lot of jobs, that puts a lot of pressure on you. It's hard to resist," said Pegah Shabehpour, a 22-year-old architecture student browsing the Internet at the ITT campus library.

"I've heard of some friends deactivating their accounts when they are applying for jobs and once they get a job, reactivating them," she said, though she's never been asked for her passwords.

The governor said it was important to ensure privacy laws keep pace with technology.

"We're dealing with 21st-century issues," Quinn said. "... Privacy is a fundamental right. I believe that and I think we need to fight for that."

The law protects both current employees and prospective hires. But the legislation, which takes effect Jan. 1, does not stop bosses from viewing information that isn't restricted by privacy settings on a website. Employers are also free to set workplace policies on the use of the Internet, social networking sites and email.

Penalties in any successful civil suit would start at between $100 and $300 and could end up costing employers more, said bill sponsor Rep. La Shawn Ford, a Chicago Democrat.

Maryland currently has a similar law, and several other states are considering bans, including Washington, Delaware and New Jersey. Two U.S. senators have asked the U.S. Department of Justice to review whether such password requests from employers are legal.

Lori Andrews, a professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology's Chicago-Kent College of Law, said some research has shown that 75 percent of employers require their human resources departments to look at online profiles before offering an applicant a job, and that a third of employers have turned down applicants based on those searches.

"Some of this is very improper," she said at Wednesday's event.

It is especially problematic because it opens the door to discrimination, Andrews said, noting that online profiles can contain information about a person's religious beliefs, political affiliations and sexual preference.

Chemical engineering student Kimberly Douglas, 19, said she had heard of employers rejecting applicants who refused to grant access to their online profiles on the assumption that they must be hiding something.

Not only is it unfair, she said, but she also wondered what you can learn about a person's job performance from poking around their photos and online presence.

"You post things about music, quotes, stuff you like, but it's not really who you are," she said."

So, what do you think? Should companies have been left to look on their possible future employees social networking pages as they pleased and even have their passwords to Facebook to ensure they're "up for the job"?

[Pendulous]

I'm afraid I don't understand. Who is asking job applicants for their PASSWORDS, and why are these people being continued to allow to breathe?

[Deleted]

Is this really even up for question?

[Kerath]

Of course they shouldn't be able to get away with it. It's a complete invasion of privacy.
Emphasis on social networking sites. For the average person, the content doesn't impact on how well someone can do their job. If an employer wants to limit access to such sites in the workplace, that's entirely understandable but snooping around on someone's facebook account seems akin to asking them to hand over their diary and social agenda :S

[Daerth]

I'm afraid I don't understand. Who is asking job applicants for their PASSWORDS, and why are these people being continued to allow to breathe?

^QFT. x10 Honestly...

[Video Games]

I think it depends on the job. I think more personal jobs like baby sitter or being mickey at disneyland the employers should maybe screen them a little more than the average job at like radioshack or whatever. Never passwords though, that's too much.

[Deleted]

I'm afraid I don't understand. Who is asking job applicants for their PASSWORDS, and why are these people being continued to allow to breathe?

You'd be surprised. In the last months, this was a growing thing, more recruiters asking job applicants either for their links to facebook or, in case it was private, for their passwords.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

You'd be surprised. In the last months, this was a growing thing, more recruiters asking job applicants either for their links to facebook or, in case it was private, for their passwords.

And people don't tell them to [insert string of appropriate expletives here] keep their noses out of other peoples private lives?

[Deleted]

How could they even be allowed to do something like asking for private passwords ANYWHERE? The illegality of it all is astounding.
Good initiative Illinois!

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

The fact that you need to legislate against this kind of thing in the first place ...

[Deleted]

And people don't tell them to [insert string of appropriate expletives here] keep their noses out of other peoples private lives?

To which the possible future employer asks "Do you want this job or not? We've got another applicant waiting to see us after you're done you know."

[Himora]

do employers seriously ask for such passwords ???? lol not where i live thank god..

[Kraenen]

well, if the free market is as good as they say, people will simply stop working there and the owners will lose business, leading to a change in policy.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

To which the possible future employer asks "Do you want this job or not? We've got another applicant waiting to see us after you're done you know."

Deactivate your facebook profile (you can do this via the account control settings), say you don't have one. Deactivated profiles cannot be found through a search.

[Kraenen]

Deactivate your facebook profile (you can do this via the account control settings), say you don't have one. Deactivated profiles cannot be found through a search.

then they'd ask why you don't have one, and suspect you're probably a loner and don't work well with others (let alone reports of people assuming others without facebook are crazy or killers).

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

Then they are not a company I would want to work for.

[Dendrek]

I'm afraid I don't understand. Who is asking job applicants for their PASSWORDS, and why are these people being continued to allow to breathe?

This happens a lot. A lot a lot.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

This happens a lot. A lot a lot.

And is a prime example of how regulating businesses is important. They have absolutely no right whatsoever to read your private profiles.

then they'd ask why you don't have one, and suspect you're probably a loner and don't work well with others (let alone reports of people assuming others without facebook are crazy or killers).

Offer them a swap. Their access for yours. See if they like that.

[Dendrek]

How could they even be allowed to do something like asking for private passwords ANYWHERE? The illegality of it all is astounding.
Good initiative Illinois!

There's nothing illegal about it, unfortunately. And the employer could simply say "Type your password in for me." They don't need to know the password (although some actually insist on knowing it), they just need access to your private information. And without legislation against it, they are in their legal right to make that request. If you don't like it, go look for another job -- is basically their motto. And for a person desperate for a job, there's really no choice to be made. It's basically coercion, but again, it's legal.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

There's nothing illegal about it, unfortunately. [...] It's basically coercion, but again, it's legal.

Luckily, no longer (at least in Illinois).