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

[mjb5406]

Here we are, 25 years after 1984, and "Big Brother" is now finally rearing its ugly head. I hope the Bozeman City Council, and their uninformed legal gutus, get run through the legal wringer. One story I read which mentioned "One option would be to have an applicant add the city as a "friend" on such sites as Facebook" said that Greg Sullivan, crack city attorney, responded "I didn't know you could do that".

What I would do if I applied for a job would to set up a fake Facebook or MySpace profile that portrayed me in the wort possible light and see if they denied me a job based on that info... then get the ACLU involved. For them to say that they don't use social networking profiles as info for hiring is a blatant lie and privacy violation.

[AngelaQuattrano]

The thing to do is what I do: use a pseudonym on the internet. I know people who have been fired over seemingly innocuous things they posted on Facebook.

[thisoldbroad]

This is definitely crossing a line.
If you refuse to give them, are you then not considered for a job?
If you say you don't use those sites & they find out different, can they fire you?

There is no need to get anyone's passwords in this day & age. Just google their name. It's scary what information will come up if they have a blog or join social networking sites.

[Libilou]

With your passwords, they can get into your email, they can get into your banking information (I have my bank statements sent to my email), they can get into anything. This is beyond an invasion of privacy. Methinks someone has been reading 1984 a bit too much lately.

[jelly450]

Those social networking sites are too much like a diary.

"Keep a diary and one day it'll keep you " Mae West

[ifihadahammer]

Oh hells no! Just got into this sort of thing at my job. While I agree with some of what my organization does, I don't agree with other things. So when it comes to my personal life and opinions, my boss and everyone else need to butt out! I will not add you as a friend, I will not become a fan of your page, I will not in any way associate my private social networking with the public professional work I do.

This policy takes it way beyond that. Too far!

[NHBill]

All the more reason to stay off those kind of sites!

[amdezurik]

hey, yeah let's have the China model of "freedom".

[mjb5406]

Or,lately it seems, Iran.

[fishgirl26]

WHOA WHOA WHOA!!! What your employees do on their own time is their business. If it's on a company or city computer it's different but still. This is a total violation of privacy. Watch out for a lawsuit on this one. City of Bozeman, as a Montanan, I am ashamed (and I guess now I won't get a job w/ the city of Bozeman.)

[gabberwok]

Facebook != privacy. Anything that's posted there can easily become public. This is basically the same thing the Obama administration asked of its job applicants, and I'm sure this city has the same motivations (avoiding public embarrassment).

There is no such thing as anonymity on the internet, the sooner people realize that the better off we all will be.

[AngelaQuattrano]

What about your yahoo mail and gmail accounts? You're willing to share them?

[gabberwok]

Sorry, a bit of an exaggeration... There is almost no such thing as anonymity on the internet. You can take extreme measures to cover your tracks, but almost no one uses them. Websites like wikileaks.org and services like Tor give you some privacy, but that's about it.

[stratdude]

Outrageous. Another despicable unAmerican act in a red state.
Montana = Big Spy Country.

[avvocato]

two dem senators and a dem gov
some red state!

[stratdude]

Went for mcsame and ellie mae palin.

[macchugsid]

DINO's all!

[Montgriz]

not really...just not that sophisticated....I wish you all shared your sentiments about privacy with our president since Obama has actually extended Bush era policies regarding wire tapping and other invasions of privacy....