Employers Ask Job Seekers for Facebook Passwords

By KSEE News

March 20, 2012 Updated Mar 20, 2012 at 6:36 PM PDT

A Facebook password is a key that opens the door to your personal world. It's a key Katie Turner wouldn't even share with her family. "There's personal things on there...especially messages...if they were to log into messages, that's an invasion," she said.

It's apparently happening in the work place. Specifically during the hiring process. Criminal defense attorney and privacy rights expert Jeff Hammerschmidt said employers are asking job seekers to hand over their passwords and there isn't a law against it.

"If an employee applies for a job and fails to provide that information, they're not likely to get the job," Hammerschmidt said.

He also said employers log in as the user to do a background check. "They can find information that can go to their work ethic or how they conduct their lives personally to see how they conduct their lives professionally."

The practice doesn't sit will with a lot of people. Kesh Zerr said, "everyone is desperate for jobs and if that made a difference I would say yes but I still don't think I should have to."

Experts say the best thing to do is delete negative posts and keep an eye on what your friends are posting.

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