Introduction
“According to recent reports,
certain employers are demanding the information (personal social media login
credentials such as Facebook) from job applicants as part of the interview
process” (Bluementhal & Schumer,
2012). You first thought may be is this
real? The answer is yes you’d better
believe it! This is a real issue and is
really happening. Is it right? Are there any conditions/situations in which
it is okay to provide such login credentials?
Under no circumstances whatsoever is it okay for anyone to demand your
social media password, because in doing so, you lose all personal privacy, your
online presence is compromised, and most importantly, everything you’ve ever
done in relation to social media could be used against you.
Why
are they doing this?
Unfortunately, despite the demanding of
Facebook login credentials being completely wrong, it’s still being done. It’s important to point out that it’s against
Facebook’s official Terms of Service policy in which you’ve agreed to adhere to
when creating your Facebook account in the first place. Under the “Registration
and Account Security” section number eight states the following: “You will not
share your password/ or in the case of developers, your secret key), let anyone
else access your account, or do anything else that might jeopardize the
security of your account.” (Facebook, 2015)
Besides the fact that Facebook itself says it’s wrong, the question
still remains, why then do these companies and schools feel they have the right
to do such a thing?
One
reason behind the absurd request came from a law enforcement spokesman by the
name of Carrine Gellar who stated it being just one step in a very complex
process, and that it’s necessary when entrusting an individual with the law
(Dame, 2014). Sure, that sounds great,
but exactly how necessary is it? The amount
of information that is publicly available on social media websites is more than
enough to determine whether or not a candidate is trustworthy enough to entrust
enforcing the law. Without requiring
full access to someone’s social media account you can not only view a decent
amount of data, but you can view their friend’s information as well. Yes, some may be utilizing their privacy
controls the right way which would limit your information, but there’s a good
chance a few friends may not be.
Twenty-five percent of Facebook users don’t bother with privacy settings
(Cooper, 2013). That being said, I’m
sure it’s reasonable to conclude you can decide whether or not a person is
trustworthy just fine without their password.
The argument made by universities that
try to require your personal information is that it’s for student-athletes. This reason is almost good enough to accept,
however it still falls short in my eyes.
I don’t feel student-athletes should be singled out first off. It is true that these universities have a
lot invested in these kids, not only for the need of a winning team, but also
their reputation is on the line.
Interestingly enough, in college football alone, “the median net revenue
for college football in 2010 was $3.15 million per school.” (Chua, 2011) How much of that goes to the student athlete
responsible for making all that money?
None, in fact serious consequences are enforced if money is even talked
about. To me, that looks clear as day to
be why schools want to intrude on your personal life.
Why
this is not okay
There
are many reasons the demanding of passwords to social media accounts is wrong,
but the most obvious would be your loss of complete personal privacy. The amount of personal conversations,
memories, and ideas would no longer be personal. One may argue that if such data is to be confidential,
why would it appear in such a place to begin with? The reality of the situation is that we, as a
society, are moving towards a world which is transforming into a digital
one. It’s not unreasonable to believe
one day the use of physical currency will be obsolete. We’ve watched music and video become that
way. Which brings me to the point of
saying such sensitive information is put online because of the ability to keep
it private, and by giving a company access to such data, why not include permission
to come and go to your house and cars as well?
Another
reason this is not okay is it jeopardizes your online existence. By giving anyone at all access to your social
media accounts, you are no longer one hundred percent certain your reputation
online is controlled by you. What’s to
say there’s not a disgruntled IT employee at one of these companies that takes
all these passwords and quits the company?
Let’s step away from the things you’re at risk of and think about your
friend’s personal security. Personal
privacy settings are such that certain friends are allowed certain
information. By giving your password to
an employer you’re not only giving your information out but also your friend’s
as well, and I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t appreciate you doing that.
The most important reason to me why this
isn’t okay is the amount of data being given could, potentially come back at a
later date and really hurt you. The
number of possibilities is endless.
Let’s just say you do give your password. You’d probably only consider doing so if
you’d plan on making that job a career.
You the invest ten to twenty years with the company, and then are
treated unfairly, subsequently leaving the company. Suppose the company is legitimately in the
wrong and owes you in damages. The
company has ten to twenty years of recorded data on you (more times than not
people click the login with Facebook
button when browsing third-party sites which gives them even more data) and
uses such data to make up some crazy case to cheat you of not only your ten to
twenty years employed, but your future as well.
Conclusion
In conclusion, although it’s really
happening (the demanding of social media account login credentials), that
doesn’t make it right. You, as an
individual, need to exercise your right to say no to this because the more
pushy corporations/universities get, the more they will begin to take
away. It is important to remember, that
under no circumstances whatsoever is it okay to require your login credentials
because in doing so you’d lose all personal privacy, you’d be putting your
online existence in jeopardy, and everything you’ve ever done in relation to
these sites can be used against you.
References
BLUMENTHAL,
SCHUMER: EMPLOYER DEMANDS FOR FACEBOOK AND EMAIL PASSWORDS AS PRECONDITION FOR
JOB INTERVIEWS MAY BE A VIOLATION OF FEDERAL LAW; SENATORS ASK FEDS TO
INVESTIGATE. (2012). (). Lanham: Federal Information
& News Dispatch, Inc. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/940878602?accountid=41759
Chua,
R. (2011, November 8). How Much Revenue Do College Sports Produce? Retrieved
July 27, 2015, from
http://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/1111/how-much-revenue-do-college-sports-produce.aspx
Cooper,
B. (2013, November 18). 10 Surprising Social Media Statistics That Will Make
You Rethink Your Social Strategy. Retrieved July 27, 2015, from http://www.fastcompany.com/3021749/work-smart/10-surprising-social-media-statistics-that-will-make-you-rethink-your-social-stra
Dame,
J. (2014, January 10). Will employers still ask for Facebook passwords in 2014?
Retrieved July 27, 2015, from http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/01/10/facebook-passwords-employers/4327739/
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