We’ve reported several times about the whole ordeal with employers asking the Facebook passwords of job candidates. It’s been a hot, controversial item this week.
Facebook deemed the practice alarming. One senator declared that employers asking for Facebook passwords should be illegal.
Now, more companies are getting involved in the discussion. Groupon posted the following message to its company blog:
There have been more than a few articles floating around the interwebs about employers asking for interviewees’ social networking login information and password. This is not just a bad idea and unnecessary for us, but also could be a violation of privacy.
As good recruiters, we will occasionally view your public information on social networks to get a better idea of your interests and web savvy, but we would never ask to read personal messages or look at private photos. Be smart and keep private things private and make public those things that will give us insight into your performance on the job, or knowledge in your particular space. As I said, we will look at your social profiles, but more as a supplement to your personality than something to weed you out.
A blood sample, SSN, and ATM PIN number are just fine for us here at Groupon…
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