http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/20...ops12_ST_N.htm
I have a friend who's going through this right now for a public safety position and they not only asked for the information, but they also requested he not change his passwords until after the hiring/interview process.
Here's my rant that I posted on my facebook about it:
Asking for passwords for private info is straight up wrong. Asking for email passwords, facebook, yahoo, youtube, etc is seriously fucked up. It's one thing to investigate someone's digital footprint if the account is public. That's just like looking at info put up on a downtown bulletin. But requiring password information for private info that isn't available to the general public is like asking for the keys to your house, permission to go through your mail, and look through your family photo albums.
Not to mention, let's say you give downtown permission to look through your facebook because you just REALLY WANT THAT JOB and will make any and all sacrifices necessary to obtain that job, including forking over passwords, opening up privacy, showing text messages, e-mail logs, yadda yadda.
Your friends?? The ones who have privacy settings to "Friends only" just like you do??? Suddenly whoever's looking through your junk can now look at your friends' information. They might claim they don't, but I can't imagine an employer passing up the opportunity to see what your girlfriend/boyfriend/spouse/parents/siblings are like because hey, you share(d) a good portion of your life with them, right?
My information is available to a select few for a reason. I don't like the idea of cleaning up my private digital footprint for an employer who really shouldn't give half a shit what I do off the clock so long as it's within legal bounds and I'm not wearing the company uniform, and I still come to work and perform my job to standard or above.
If you apply for a job and feel the need to clean up your digital footprint, by all means go ahead, and good luck to you on getting the job. Seriously, good luck. I would not wish for any of my friends to not get the job they applied for.
But ultimately, even if you clean up your page, your friends/family likely will not.



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