Want this job? Facebook password, please
June 22, 2009 by Valerie HelmbreckPosted in: Communication, Compliance, IT employment, Information security, Special Report, Web 2.0, Web sites, cybercrime, social networking
Yes, unemployment’s high and job pickings are slim, so job applicants should probably be prepared to jump through a few hoops to land a paying gig. But if you want to work for the city of Bozeman, Montana, the price might be a little too steep.
A pound of flesh won’t do, Bozeman wants a chunk of your privacy as well.
That’s because when you apply for a job with the city of Bozeman these days, you’ll need to sign a waiver statement, giving the City permission to conduct an investigation into your “background, references, character, past employment, education, credit history, criminal or police records.”
Included in the waiver is the requirement that applicants “list any and all, current personal or business websites, web pages or memberships on any Internet-based chat rooms, social clubs or forums, to include, but not limited to: Facebook, Google, Yahoo, YouTube.com, MySpace, etc.”
The form (which you can see here) doesn’t just want to know which of these sites you frequent. It asks for your usernames and passwords as well.
That’s right, usernames and passwords.
An attorney for the city, Greg Sullivan, makes no apologies for the request. He told a local TV station that the city has “positions ranging from fire and police, which require people of high integrity for those positions, all the way down to the lifeguards and the folks that work in city hall here. So we do those types of investigations to make sure the people that we hire have the highest moral character and are a good fit for the City.”
And apparently, the city needs applicants’ usernames and passwords to get the job done.
Never mind that giving out your Facebook access would allow the city to also access all your friends as well. Never mind that you could be giving some city government functionary access to your credit card numbers stored on these sites. Never mind that this is your personal, not professional, life we’re talking about here.
This is all about the safety of the citizens of Bozeman!
Sullivan insists that nobody’s withdrawn their application because of the requirement, but that begs the question: How would he know if a job seeker saw that request and then never submitted an application?
The fact that an applicant took the form and faxed it over to the local TV station shows there’s discomfort among some Bozeman citizens at least.
What remains to be seen is if this kind of request will become widespread in this “buyer’s market” for jobs.
If unemployment stays high, it’s no telling what recruiters might try.
Update: The outcry over the Bozeman request of job applicants have the city fathers re-thinking their policy.
From the City’s press release:
Effective at 12:00 p.m. today, Friday June 19, 2009, the City of Bozeman permanently ceased the practice of requesting candidates selected for City positions under a provisional job offer to provide user names and passwords for the candidate’s internet sites.
In addition, until further notice, the City will suspend its practice of reviewing candidate’s password protected internet information until the City conducts a more comprehensive evaluation of the practice.
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Tags: applicants, Bozeman, city, e-mail, job, Montana, passwords, privacy, social networking
June 23rd, 2009 at 8:54 am
Geeze, how did they ever forget to ask for their political affiliation, memberships to such organizations as the ACLU, NRA (oops, that’s automatic with Bozeman citizenship, right?), AAA, AARP, IEEE, with membership id numbers etc., etc.
I would resent the invasion of privacy, and while I might list the websites, I am not about to give up passwords since those could provide access to so much misuse. Example: for 7 years I helped moderate one of the largest web sites of its type in the US, so to provide my membership password would give them access to the private organizational portions of that web site, not to mention authority (in the guise of being me) to permit them to harrass other site members. And they are certainly not going to get the password to my own personal website, since I store some work and information in secure areas that is of a confidential business nature to some of my own clients that I do work for in my non-day-job time.
Others would be restricted by agreements with such corporations as Microsoft under an existing NDA I currently have with them. Handing out such information as my account password there would result in the immediate termination of my business relationship with them.
June 23rd, 2009 at 8:58 am
AHA! Seems others have raised the issue – the linked Bozeman web site now has an update that they have (quote)
Update: Due to the public outcry about this policy, the City of Bozeman has now decided to halt its controversial policy of asking prospective employees for their login credential.
From the City’s press release:
Effective at 12:00 p.m. today, Friday June 19, 2009, the City of Bozeman permanently ceased the practice of requesting candidates selected for City positions under a provisional job offer to provide user names and passwords for the candidate’s internet sites.
In addition, until further notice, the City will suspend its practice of reviewing candidate’s password protected internet information until the City conducts a more comprehensive evaluation of the practice.
END QUOTE
June 23rd, 2009 at 9:05 am
JLatham: Thanks for the update!
June 23rd, 2009 at 9:30 am
I wouldn’t mind if they requested to be my friend on face book or my neighbor in farmtown…HA!
June 23rd, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Wow. That is ridiculous. I am glad they changed it. I find it hard to believe such invasion of privacy would stand up in court as a reasonable inquiry for employment. They can find you via Google as it is..whoever thought they should actually have the right to access your private data is way over the edge.
June 23rd, 2009 at 12:47 pm
What a crock! Being a friend to see your stuff is one thing, but to get your password to be able to go in and cahnge stuff, sounds like typical Republican paranoia. Sure Republicans say less government intrusion, but they only mean for themselves (as individuals). What they really mean is their privacy is their own business, but your business is their business too. I hope someone sues the city for a ton of money and they learn their lesson the only way a bunch of tight ass Republicans will ever learn. Hit them where it hurts, in their tightfisted held pocketbooks!!
June 23rd, 2009 at 1:08 pm
thin end of the wedge.
you can just hear the smug, ‘if you don’t have anything to hide then why are you bothered by this”.
and Bozeman is about as far as you can be from the loony part of montana and still be in the state.
June 23rd, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Where’s the Electronic Frontier Foundation when you need them? This sure looks like something they should be interested in pursuing, especially legally.
June 23rd, 2009 at 4:27 pm
Ted, you’re an idiot… this issue has nothing to do with Republican or Democrat, it’s ridiculous to all. Stop trying to blame everything on a political party you don’t agree with. You may also want to note that Bozeman has a democrat as mayor, and Montana has democrats seated as Governor and both US Senators.
June 23rd, 2009 at 9:46 pm
Ted, I have to agree with Buddy. Your comments are irrelevant and obviously politically motivated. You’re injecting “political spin” where it’s definitely not needed. Come to think of it, when is political spin ever needed?
The real issue here is whether anyone (or any entity, like the government) has the right to invade an individual’s right to privacy. I would hazard to guess that this practice won’t stand up for long since it violates a basic human right. At least the city government had enough sense to “take it down” before some real damage ensued.
June 24th, 2009 at 10:50 am
What a liability for the city. I could see ID thieft claims from the onset. What an abuse of power.
June 24th, 2009 at 11:16 am
Ted –
Wow – I feel sorry for you.
June 24th, 2009 at 11:40 am
No need to inject politics into the matter without knowing affiliations Ted you just come off sounding uninformed. Aside from that the policy is probably unconstitutional and was quickly rescinded once it came to light. Greg Sullivan needs some remedial Legal training. Bozeman should send him back to Law School for a Constitutional Law class.