Legal Rights of Social Media Users [Infographic]
There has been a lot of buzz in both social media and business industries as of late regarding employers asking potential employees for their Facebook password and login information.
I believe most of us feel that we should not have to divulge such personal information to potential employers but if you don’t feel you have anything to hide and really need the job, it seems logical to give in to the “man” and let the employer take a full look at your Facebook account.
See Also: iPhone and Android Security Issues 2012 [Infographic]
I believe that, on principal alone, these requests should be denied. Imagine what the next step might be! If they’re asking for Facebook passwords now, when are they going to start asking for your email password or combo to your mailbox?
To help increase awareness over the issue, an infographic (posted below) was recently published by BackgroundCheck.org that includes information on what legal rights social media users have, terms of service agreements of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, and the actions that some employers are attempting to take in regards to checking potential employees’ social media accounts.
You can also monitor, protect and repair your online identity with a variety of digital identity protection services.
Legal Rights of Social Media Users Infographic Highlights:
- 75% of recruiters claim that researching job applicants online profiles is part of the hiring process.
- Nearly all job applicants agree to letting employers view their profiles because they need the job.
- The following organizations are asking for access to social media profiles:
- Colleges
- Police Departments
- Correctional Facilities
- 911 Dispatchers
- Public Agencies
Drafted and adopted after the 2010 Computers, Freedom and Privacy Conference to help social media users know their rights. The Bill states that, “We the users expect social network sites to provide us the following rights in their Terms of Service, Privacy Policies, and implementations of their system:
- Honesty: Honor your privacy policy and terms of service.
- Clarity: Make sure that policies, terms of service and settings are easy to find and understand.
- Freedom of speech: Do not delete or modify my data without a clear policy and justification.
- Empowerment: Support assistive technologies and universal accessibility.
- Self-protection: Support privacy-enhancing technologies.
About Anson Alexander
Anson Alexander is a graduate from the University of Tampa with a degree in International Business and Information Systems.A previous IT Administrator for a medium size publication company, Anson has recently decided to work full time on his own business by publishing on AnsonAlex.com, publishing technology tutorials on YouTube and offering SEO, IT training and digital marketing services.His main interests include technology, social media, infographics, economics, marketing and web design.Connect with Anson on Google+.
