Washington’s Senate Bill 5211 takes effect on Sunday and employers are now prohibited from asking for social media passwords of their employees both on the job and during interviews.
To which I say a hearty “NO DUH”.
I can’t help but feel that asking for a Facebook password from an employee is akin to asking for the key to their diary or to look at their text messages.
Socializing is no longer done strictly at bars and you know….real life venues. It’s done on the internet which, yes, is “public” but so is a bar or a mall or a restaurant. Things have changed, the world has changed, how we communicate has drastically changed ergo privacy laws must change with it. Feelings are ephemeral (and the internet is where everyone puts there feelings nowadays) so it is IMPOSSIBLE to police every little stupid thing you do or say on the internet. We’re human beings. And we should feel free (within reason) to express ourselves on our social sites.
That being said, I think we all know it’s common sense to use some discretion when tweeting, facebooking, instagramming – just not to the point of paranoia.
The law is going into effect soon on other states including the one I live in (Oregon).
Does Your Staffing Company Ask Candidates For Social Media Passwords? | Staffing Robot.
Does Your Staffing Company Ask Candidates For Social Media Passwords?
