AN IRISH MEP has condemned what he described as a “distaste- ful trend” whereby employers are asking prospective employees for their Facebook passwords before hiring them.
AN IRISH MEP has condemned what he described as a “distaste- ful trend” whereby employers are asking prospective employees for their Facebook passwords before hiring them.
Fine Gael MEP Sean Kelly cited anecdotal evidence of young people being “bullied” during job interviews into giving employers password access to their social media profiles, allegedly to help determine if they were suitable candidates.
Speaking at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Kelly called for the practice to be banned, claiming it could amount to a breach of personal data pro-
tection rights.
Kelly, co-author of a major
report on data protection, is cur- rently helping to draft EU-wide regulation to protect citizens from such intrusions. The final text of the legislation is due to be voted on early in the New Year.
He also urged young people faced with such demands from potential employers not to co- operate.
“The problem is, young people might put up funny or humorous things on their Facebook page that might not be funny to some- one else, but it would not reflect on their ability to do a job, ” he said.
