Microsoft Corporation published an extensive study last year about data privacy. Included in the study were some fascinating statistics regarding the way a person’s online reputation affects their real life. For example, “70% of surveyed HR professionals in U.S. have rejected a candidate based on online reputation information.” Job seekers should digest this information carefully – photos from last weekend’s drunken exploits should not be the first things a stranger sees when looking up your Facebook page.
Job seekers are (finally) becoming aware that employers know how to use social networks. They increase the privacy settings on their profiles and make sure that their profile picture isn’t too unflattering. Some of the job seekers who haven’t learned this yet, however, are unknowingly compromising their own employment efforts and posting photos, opinions, and experiences that would make Charlie Sheen blush.
Employers should also use caution, however, when they begin their background check at Google.com. Facebook, Twitter, and even LinkedIn background checks open the door to unique new liabilities that every background screening industry veteran knows to avoid.
· Protected class violations: During an interview you would never ask about a person’s age, religion, or physical disability. But what if you uncovered these items in a Facebook search? A rejected applicant could claim that you discriminated against them based on this information. This sounds like a far-fetched discrimination claim, but if you end up in a deposition it would be very difficult to explain that you didn’t uncover this type of protected class information.
· Positive identification: Facebook does its best to delete fake profiles, but fake profiles exist. There is no immediate way to know if a person’s raunchy online identity was created by that person, or by somebody else. A scorned ex-lover, for example, can create a fake Facebook page that isn’t remotely indicative of whom his or her ex really is. And if you don’t know what the person looks like, you may be learning about a completely different person with the same name. PT Research Inc. uses identifying information like date of birth or SSN to verify the accuracy of a court record, but an online identity cannot be verified.
· Information privacy: Even your best employees have a personal life that may include partying or drinking. They keep their personal lives entirely separate from their professional lives. A person’s Twitter account is meant for his friends, family, and other associates from his personal life. An employer’s perusal of his personal life may be considered an invasion of privacy regardless of the content the employer uncovers.
Other aspects of a job hunter’s personal life can speak volumes. Drug use, a violent criminal past, or a history of theft, are all immediate red flags that an employer can and should use when making a hiring decision. A reputable employment screening firm like PT Research can uncover these indiscretions without risking any of the above liability pitfalls.
Resources:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/privacyimperative/archive/2010/01/27/microsoft-releases-a-study-on-data-privacy-day.aspx
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