In the news recently one of the most heated topics involves potential employers requesting social media passwords before they’ll consider employing us. As far as I’m concerned this violates two fundamental constitutional rights; the first and fourth amendments. As you may recall, the first amendment protects our freedom of speech, and the fourth protects us from unreasonable searches and seizures- without probable cause.

This whole idea insults the intelligence and ethics of the vast majority of citizens. Overall, citizens are good people and should be trusted. Sure, we all have bad days and we may do something that we don’t mean or say something we didn’t mean to say. However, it doesn’t make us criminals.

I’ve worked for the same company for 16 years and admit that I didn’t always agree with certain policies the company put into place, but overall it was a great company to work for. I have never posted anything on Facebook, the only social media site I use, to negatively reflect the company or myself. I honestly believe there is no reason to ask for my password, because if I were the type of person who would post stuff like that I would hope my potential employer could judge my character based off of an email, phone call and/or in person- the good old fashioned way. I know there are people out there that would bad mouth a company, friends and even judge those that they don’t know. I believe that companies have a right to not want to hire that type of person. However, we’ve all met these types of people and were able to make an evaluation within a few minutes of meeting them. That person doesn’t know how to filter their thoughts because they don’t want to filter their thoughts.

I do, however, think there are circumstances that employers should have the ability to access a current employees social media sites. Even in those cases though I think the guidelines have to be very detailed and everyone needs to be clear about them. I think if my social media site was connected to my work email, the company owns that email and therefore has a right to see what I’m doing on my social media site. Most companies have it in their policy that company email is not to be used for personal use. Therefore, if you are using your work email for your social media site you shouldn’t be doing anything personal on the site either. I also think that if an employee is abusing the privilege of internet use and seem to always be on a social media site, that company then also has the right to view that employee’s profile site. If a company has probable cause to search an employee’s social media site, then it is completely appropriate and justified. However, I can’t think of anything that would give a company probable cause to do so. I believe they would need a very compelling reason other than they heard that an employee was posting negative things about the company, because that is just hearsay and that is never a good reason.

Personally, my Facebook account is linked through my private email. I access it at home or through my phone and I never bad mouth my company. Furthermore, if you want to bad mouth your employer (or a person for that matter), the best way to do so is still by verbal communication. In this day and age, once you post, email or text anything it becomes proof and can accessed at any time. Even though you are using tools like https://projectinsta.com/free-instagram-followers/, there is still a chance that someone can access your account.

My biggest question to a potential employer requesting my social media password is “where does it end”? When is the line crossed where one’s personal rights are violated? Asking for someone’s password that an employer tells employees to never share should not be a requirement for a job interview; not even to be hired by an employer. Once we start allowing ourselves to be okay with this and to allow it to continue to, it opens us up to so much more. Would it mean I am to be judged for something someone else posted on my site? Sure, I’m the person that will delete it if I don’t like what you have to say but that doesn’t mean I should be judged. Just because someone else thinks one way, in no way means that I think that same way. Not just that though, is could get to the point where company may require the password of your own personal email or maybe they start to check your immediate family’s background as well as yours. Potentially, if you apply at a bank which requires your family to pass and your sibling has robbed a bank, there goes your potential job. Just because my sibling is a criminal in no way should reflect on me. How far along this slippery slope of privacy violation can we allow before the potential for abuse becomes paramount? 

In my opinion, I think allowing potential employer’s access to my password for my social media site violates my first and fourth amendment rights. I would never provide it up for a job for this reason. If I already had the job and I was violating their policies, well then they have every right to ask. I have nothing to hide, but I do have every right to protect my privacy and that of my loved ones.