Legislators react to use of social media info in hiring

BOSTON — After recent reports that employers were requesting Facebook passwords from job applicants, state and federal legislators quickly responded with proposed legislation and calls for a federal investigation into the practice.

News outlets ran stories about job applicants being asked to share their Facebook passwords or other personal information from social networking sites. Employers like the city of Bozeman, Mont. had a policy of asking applicants for passwords to their email addresses, social networking sites and other accounts, while the sheriff’s office in McLean County, Ill. requested that applicants sign into social media sites for interviewers to review as part of the screening process.

While applicants could refuse such requests, some might hesitate to do so with a possible job hanging in the balance.

In response, lawmakers in Illinois and Maryland have already introduced legislation that would ban public employers from making such a demand.

At the national level, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., is working on a federal bill that would outlaw the practice of employers requesting passwords to social media sites, similar to a ban on administering polygraph tests to applicants.

Blumenthal also joined with Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., in requesting that the Department of Justice and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission conduct an investigation into the matter.

The senators are seeking a determination from the DOJ if such requests violate federal laws, specifically the Stored Communications Act or the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. In their letter to the EEOC, the lawmakers query whether access to private information about applicants may be used to unlawfully discriminate.

Facebook itself weighed in against the practice, with chief privacy officer Erin Egan posting to the company blog that the site will help to protect its users.

Facebook updated its policy to prohibit the sharing or soliciting of a Facebook password, and Egan said that the site would take legal action if necessary.