House Votes Against Bill to Stop Employers From Demanding Facebook Passwords

March 30th, 2012 - By Brande Victorian

Making your Facebook page private and blocking certain parts of your account may no longer do the trick if you’re worried about how your social media persona will affect employment. The House has voted against legislation Democratic lawmakers inserted as an amendment to a Federal Communications Commission bill that would prevent employers from demanding passwords from employees.

Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.) explained why the amendment was so important.

“It only makes sense because those that are using these kinds of social media have an expectation of privacy,” he said on the House floor. “They have an expectation that their right of free speech or their right to free religion will be respected when they use these social media outlets.”

The republicans didn’t see the solution to the issue quite the same way though, which is why they voted against the FCC bill in a vote of 184 to 236. Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) said Facebook users do deserve protection but not the way it was outlined in the bill.

“I think it’s awful that employers think they can demand our passwords and can go snooping around. There is no disagreement with that,” he said. “Here is the flaw: Your amendment doesn’t protect them. It doesn’t do that. Actually, what this amendment does is say that all of the reforms that we are trying to put in place at the Federal Communications Commission, in order to have them have an open and transparent process where they are required to publish their rules in advance so that you can see what they’re proposing, would basically be shoved aside. They could do whatever they wanted on privacy if they wanted to, and you wouldn’t know it until they published their text afterward. There is no protection here.”

While Rep. Walden’s promise of working with democrats to draft a better bill sounds promising we know how slow Congress moves and the concern is what will happen in the interim. Facebook issued a statement last week to educate users’ about privacy and warned that employers requesting  passwords may not have the proper education to deal with the private information they obtain. As far as Facebook users go, when it comes down to needing a roof over your head and food on the table, can you really turn down an employer who asks for that information?

What do you think about employers requesting social media passwords? Would you give yours up?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

More on Madame Noire!

Tags:

, , , , , ,
More from StyleBlazer
More from MommyNoire

Comment Disclaimer

Comments that contain profane or derogatory language, video links or exceed 200 words will require approval by a moderator before appearing in the comment section. XOXO-MN

  • Blushy_face

    I post random thngs: political, funny, hood…all things irrelevent to my actual potential job so i wouldnt give my psword due to them not only prying but having an option to turn me down based off personal feelings on my personal life. If i wanted to get to know my boss, we’d be friends lol. How i feel about the election coming or the craziness i seen some1 where has nada to do with how to process paperwork lol. I wish an interview would ask me for my pswrd lol….i’d need that laff!

  • MrEazyE

    I’m sorry but I disagree with most of these posts. How is this an invasion of privacy? Why are people under the assumption that ANYTHING posted on the internet is private? It’s not! It will be on the internet forever and can’t be erased (even if you delete a page, traces of it will live on). The internet is a public space, not private. It would be an invasion of privacy if potential employers asked to put cameras in your home for a week to see how you live, or asked to sit in on your date with a boyfriend/girlfriend, etc. (i know that those are extreme examples). I DO, however, think that jobs shouldn’t be so concerned with what people do in their private lives. Just hire me, put me to work, and give me my paycheck!

  • FromUR2UB

    In addition to just an invasion of privacy, it’s dangerous to have to provide someone your password, because what if someone hacked into your account and posted something incriminating on there?  An employer wanting to build a case against an employee to fire them, might do that.  I wouldn’t put anything past people these days.

    I wonder if people can prevent access by closing their accounts.  Is keeping the account really worth all of this?  You can always go back to the ways people used to keep in touch with each other.

  • Jemala35

    That’s why you need Google plus. No need for multiple accounts. Just one, then share what’s necessary for friends,family or Co workers

  • Clubcreek2004

    i asked a couple my girlfriends that and they said they would just delete thers and me too gotta make that money

  • Dreama41

    Sorry i’m not giving up my F/B password. I wouldn’t want to work for anyone who feels the need to invade my privacy. Nope, not happening.

  • LALATAREA

    In this economy i just might :(

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Danielle-Dunn/100000053218106 Danielle Dunn

    Yeah… not happening. If we’re talking about passwords for access to my employee accounts for the company, then that’s one thing. But any passwords of mine not related to the company, my employment with them, or outside of work, forget it. If they want to check me out, that’s what LinkedIn is for or do a background check. Plus, I’m pretty sure they’re not going to give me theirs to check up on them.

  • Ladybug94

    I don’t have anything to hide but I still wouldn’t give up my password especially if I’m not logging on FB at work, which I don’t do.

  • L-Boogie

    Well, that can be a good thing and a bad thing.  Depends on the person.

  • F3ral Anarchy

    smh@ this….so easy to get around.   who doesnt have at least 2 facebook pages in 2012?  1 for family thats your real name and one for friends thats under a false or nickname.  Why would i want the women in my family reading some of the raunchy posts or see’n the nasty pics i put up. 

    • L-Boogie

      I only have one and I took it down.  My family knows how I am.  

    • Rachael

      I had a friend who said the exact same thing. LOL I don’t have a Facebook page. I don’t understand what this fascination is about. *shrug*

      • FromUR2UB

        I still haven’t done the Facebook thing either.  But, I was also one of the last people to get a cell phone.  I’ll get around to it when it feels “necessary”. 

        Facebook started when my daughters went off to college.  At that time, only college students were using it.  But since it was on the internet, I used to tell them to be careful of what they posted on there, for safety reasons and because I anticipated that the information could be used against people.