From time to time, employers will try creative, new "strategies" to find out more about job applicants. One of the latest strategies is to demand applicants to give their Facebook username and password to interviewers or managers. Companies, Universities and government agencies have recently been caught using these credentials to access the private Facebook accounts. By getting usernames and passwords, Facebook's privacy settings are completely bypassed and the potential employer can see everything in the potential employee's social graph. This practice runs afoul of Facebook's terms of use:
You will not solicit login information or access an account belonging to someone else. — Facebook Rights and Responsibilities, Section 3: Safety)
Violation of the above can result in a company or the interviewer’s Facebook account being suspended or even deleted.
What Employers Need to Know
Before asking anyone for their Facebook username and password, you need to look no further than Facebook’s terms of use (Facebook calls it the “Statement of Rights and Responsibilities”). If you or your company have a Facebook account, app or page, asking for access to someone else’s account violates that agreement. Violating the terms of use may subject you, your company or application from being deleted or banned from Facebook. No court orders or lawsuits are required. All it takes is a single applicant reporting the interviewer or the company to Facebook.
Given that many companies and government agencies have considerable investment in their Facebook presence, it makes little financial sense to put that investment at risk by demanding access to job applicant Facebook accounts.
What Job Seekers Need to Know
If anyone has demand access to your Facebook page, report it to Facebook. Facebook will take action based on their Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. Your Facebook account is your private data, and Facebook’s terms of use make this clear.
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