Facebook slams employers asking job applicants to reveal passwords

Sydney, Mar 24 (ANI): Facebook has slammed employers who are asking job applicants to hand over their passwords and want to peer at what workers have posted on their personal accounts at the social network site.

Erin Egan, Facebook's chief privacy officer, urged users not to share passwords with current or potential employers and warned companies to resist pressing for access.

"In recent months we've seen a distressing increase in reports of employers or others seeking to gain inappropriate access to people's Facebook profiles or private information," Egan said in a blog post.

"The most alarming of these practices is the reported incidences of employers asking prospective or actual employees to reveal their passwords," Egan added.

She said that snooping employers undermine the privacy of workers, and their friends at Facebook, while exposing themselves to legal risks.

According to The Sydney morning Herald, prospective employers could be accused of discriminating against an applicant based on seeing Facebook account information revealing someone's age or sexual preference.

"You shouldn't be forced to share your private information and communications just to get a job," Egan said.

"As the friend of a (Facebook) user, you shouldn't have to worry that your private information or communications will be revealed to someone you don't know and didn't intend to share with just because that user is looking for a job," she added. (ANI)

null