The New York Times has reported that German lawmakers are about to make it illegal for employers to research job candidates using social networking sites. The move would add Facebook screening to an increasing list of ‘no-goes’ when it comes to unauthorized pre-employee screening. The move has been celebrated by Internet watch-dog sites, though the enforceability of such regulations remains in question. More than 80% of employers admit to using social networking sites to screen potential employees.
Germany has been a leader in many recent Internet privacy rows, including legal proceedings against Google for collecting private data in its Street View program.
Click here to read more.
Well overdue. It will cleanse additional “static” browsers of personal information for business use, as well as uphold privacy laws.
Even with such laws in place, what’s keeping an employer from searching information about a potential employee? I would still do it off the record, if the person I was hiring was going to be doing an important job.