Montana City Asks Job Applicants For Facebook Passwords

HELENA, Mont. — A flood of criticism has prompted a Montana city to drop its request that government job applicants turn over their user names and passwords to Internet social networking and Web groups.

The city of Bozeman abruptly suspended the practice Friday, saying it "appears to have exceeded that which is acceptable to our community."

"We appreciate the concern many citizens have expressed regarding this practice and apologize for the negative impact this issue is having on the City of Bozeman," City Manager Chris A. Kukulski said in a release.

Since KBZK-TV of Bozeman reported on the policy Wednesday, Web forums have been abuzz over the issue. The American Civil Liberties Union of Montana immediately questioned the legality of the policy.

"I liken it to them saying they want to look at your love letters and your family photos," said Amy Cannata of the Montana ACLU. "I think this policy certainly crosses the privacy line."

The city initially argued that it only used the information to verify application information. People who refused to provide the information wouldn't be penalized, the city said.

An excerpt from the city application form said, "Please list any and all current personal or business Web sites, web pages or memberships on any Internet-based chat rooms, social clubs or forums, to include, but not limited to: Facebook, Google, Yahoo, YouTube.com, MySpace, etc."

Rep. Brady Wiseman, a Bozeman Democrat, led the state's fight against the Patriot Act when the Legislature issued a harsh critique of the federal act, arguing it trampled civil liberties and put the government into a position of snooping on citizens.

Wiseman said Bozeman had gone too far.

"Asking for passwords is over the line," Wiseman said. "I think that this notion opens up a whole new line of debate on privacy."

The ACLU has not found another government body that asks for such information, Cannata said.

"It's one thing, and I think totally reasonable, if someone has a public profile to go check it out," she said.

But private groups and profile could reveal information employers could not legally base hiring decisions on, such as a person's religion, she added.

Comments

[larry278]

If you know & use gutter French, Bozeman, Montana's name is fitting.

[SouthernYankeeBelle]

I couldn't wait to leave Bozeman, Mt. There isn't much there. I must say the people of MT are very nice. I lived in Great Falls, MT. I use to attend the catholic church there and the people were really nice. If you like Fishing, Hunting and outdoors stuff that is the place to be. I don't am glad I went back home.

[Montgriz]

thanks, but you seem to have confined yourself to the Eastern half...Western Montana, especially Butte and Missoula have a long history of socialist politics and are very, very, blue....they represent the best of live and let live this country has...Butte was and is probably the most wide open and welcoming, albeit drunk, city in the West....Missoula is a bit more sophisticated, actually, quite a bit...Lets face it, if they can hold the Testicle Festival there, how bad can it be?

[kweenipie]

What pisses me off about the City Manager's response is that he only apologizes for the "negative impact" and exceeding "that which is acceptable". He is a city manager, he works in a government position, and doesn't seem to understand or acknowledge what they did was WRONG. It's not about upsetting people, it's about civil liberties and rights. I mean WTF? Maybe the HR manager and Mr. Kukulski need to sit down with a 5th grade teacher and go over the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Obviously, he needs a refresher course and a basic understanding of the two most important governing documents of our country.

The city manager, the human resources director and whoever else signed off on this need to make a public apology for poor judgement, poor intellect and invading people's PRIVACY.

[kareemachan]

Totally agree. I found this the perfect opportunity to talk with my college-age kid about appropriate requests on job applications or during job interviews, so I have to thank the idiot CM for that.

[quiviran]

The Bozeman Bozos probably didn't understand the difference between "User ID" and "Password". They wanted the thingy you type that comes up letters and numbers, so they can look at what you post, not the thingy you type that comes up as a row of dots, so they can post for you..

[kweenipie]

I really don't think it matters. They don't get to know what websites (what organizations) I associate with, what I think about abortion, or Iraq, what political party I belong to, etc. They don't get to judge me on whether or not my world view, religous views, political views agree with theirs. They get to know my work history, my education, my qualifications for the job, and whether or not I have a criminal record. That is enough. That is all they need to know.

[Birdman]

Exactly

[AngelaQuattrano]

I think they actually did want to snoop through every account on every site that every applicant had ever had. They wanted to log in and look at all the photos and examine the posting history for the duration of the accounts. Not very different from demanding permission to go through your home, attic, and all your file cabinets for a job that doesn't require any security clearance whatever.

[AngelaQuattrano]

It's pretty clear from looking at the list of types of sites that they want access to your account on every forum you have ever posted on, they want full access to all your email accounts and all yahoo and google groups you have belonged to, including all financial information that comes from using google professionally, like full access to your adsense and adwords accounts. They want to not just see what kind of photos you posted on facebook, but also they want to examine what you have posted on any political site you have ever been on.

Your username and password for this site and others like it would have also been a requirement. Then they could look at the comments you have made and see if they like your political views.

[PunKinPai]

About 15 years ago I traveled miles to apply and interview for a job with a small aerospace manufacturing firm. The application had a cover sheet with only one paragraph--a statement that you could not continue unless you first gave the company access to ALL of your medical records. If you didn't sign, they didn't accept the application.

[Lerrin]

I had a similar experience several years ago (with a Champaign- Urbana 'envelope pushing' software firm), but I seem to recall that they wanted total access to all of my credit and medical records (if not additional records).

Worse, the application was very, very sneaky about it -you had to read it very closely and do certain things to opt out (which I found offensive and reflected poorly on company ethos/m.o. of business).

Was pursued hot and heavy throughout the process (all people were giving 'go /'final steps'signs' through the final handshake at the airport), but heard NOTHING after I returned the application (sent in a day later). NO emails returned, etc. - and I know that all engines were go prior to the application's return.

Have no doubt that my qualifications were stellar; have no doubts that they were reticent to hire someone who wouldn't go along with this infringement of personal privacy.

[greysells2]

It's a test to see if you're a "stand up" kind of person. If you are, we don't want you. We want followers.

[ufopp]

It's also a sad reflection of the state of human resources personnel. It's not just limited to Bozeman, but every major corporation and even large local governments (cities and counties) has some intrusive provisions in their hiring practices. The first line of defense against such practices should be human resources personnel. They should be the ones alerting employers to potential problems. Begin employed does not mean policing an employees entire life.

[TaxTheRichNow]

My friends who work in a large corporation tell me that they get regular training that passwords are NEVER to be shared. Not with sysadmins, not with security personnel: NO ONE. This is an excellent policy. It needs to become a very central taboo in our culture that passwords are NEVER shared.

[olddognewtrick]

YIKES! ...if you thought the sheep were nervous?

[KriTiKiT]

fire the people who set forth that policy and question them and investigate them, for unfair hiring practices. Ask them what the hell they hoped to accomplish by tearing though personal information. and investigate all hard drives personal business and government of those involved in this unfair practice. these people are up to something. and I doesn't seem good. Check out the terminated employees and see if they had these social networking accounts.

[Madbunny]

Next time you go to the supermarket and they want your special card, skip it and enter (area code)555-1234 as the phone number. If it doesn't exist, make a new card so that it does.

As with a supermarket, who clearly shouldn't need to know your personal information to sell you batteries grapes and maxi pads, an employer doesn't need to know what your last vacation looked like or how many people gave you a 'small hadron collider and organic crocs' in order to employ you. If you have a public profile then by all means they can look it up like anybody else. Many employers do a DOJ background and fingerprint check. I'd say that if those systems are doing what they need to be doing then that should be enough.

[Pammy2]

Hey, if they want to see my Facebook page, they can send a friend request like everyone else.

[Birdman]

Hahha there ya go... Problem is what's to stop them from say in a year giving you a poor performance review becasue of something you posted on your page, when it had nothing to do with your job performance.

[MsLiz]

Dang! I was planning to infiltrate the water department of the city, and then put flouride in the water. My plot was discussed on MySpace. Now I will never get away with it.

[kareemachan]

LOL

[ramblingjohnny]

lollll The Peter principle in action! Seriously it kind of pathetic that nobody stopped for a second to think that it might not be a good idea before they even made it a policy. If you have to be told it a stupid idea maybe you should not be city manager! And if I was a taxpayer of that city I be asking some serious questions about who wasting money coming up with that kind of idiocy.

[Madmac]

The city of Bozeman abruptly suspended the practice Friday, saying it "appears to have exceeded that which is acceptable to our community."

This is all sorts of wrong.

[in4success]

the US community?

[commentator101]

I actually appreciated the honesty of that statement. Just as I did the community clearly saying "No." It shouldn't have been asked in the first place of course.

[Counterglow]

Whoever came up with this idea, and whoever signed off on it, should be fired. Immediately.

[in4success]

then excommunicated to north korea.

[SoylentGreenIsPeople]

My user name: YOU CAN My password: KISS MY A$$

[quiviran]

That user name is already in use.

[jukesgrrl]

By Rush Limbaugh.

[karronna]

fricking Bozeman....what are they thinking? C'mon you guys oughta know better than this?