After many complaints and concerns regarding a company’s access to a prospective employee’s private files and posts via social networking sites, the German government is in the process of drafting a law that would limit what these companies have the right to use as criteria for determining employment. While the details are not spelled out yet, this would keep in line with Germany’s persistent and ongoing efforts to protect its citizens’ rights to privacy.
Currently under German law, there is no regulation or law that says an employer can or cannot reach a decision with regard to the hiring of a prospective employee by means of social web sites like Facebook, MySpace, and others. Seeing how the use of social networking is increasing – not only the number of people that join but also in the amount of content that gets uploaded – people are starting to wonder whether the things they do in their private life and off the clock could come back to haunt them when looking for that next job.
The most obvious question to be asked here is “Why don’t you just limit access to the information through privacy settings built into these social sites?” The truth is that most do not take the necessary measures to safeguard against who views what part of their information, and in fact, most do not even use discretion when adding people as buddies or friends on these sites. Whether it is due to a lack of knowledge or a feeling that one does not need to worry about these kinds of issues, the concern is now growing as people realize how much of their information can easily be accessed.
By drafting this law, the government is hoping to crack down on the main reasons why this could eventually hurt a prospective employee. Complaints have been made suggesting that companies use information on social sites as PRIMARY sources for candidates information, and in some cases, they even attempt to add the prospective employee as a friend to gain access to their information (prior to being hired).
While there is definitely a need, on the user’s part, to consider the effects of posting certain information and taking the necessary measures to ensure that access is limited in cases like this, the government says that it has become a big enough problem that they feel they need to step in and take action. They feel that this “spying” infringes on the rights of citizens, as it is information being obtained for the wrong reason. On the one hand, the employer has NOT explicitly been granted access to this information, and on the other hand, it can be considered (in some ways) public access, as the user DOES have the ability to limit this information through settings within the social site.
Additionally, even if the law does go into effect, the wording is going to have to very clear and precise, as this seems to ride the border between public and private access. And if a case is brought up under this law in the future, most are skeptical that it can even be proven whether this information found on a social site is a primary source or factor in determining employment with the company. Debates are ongoing and will prove to play a role in the outcome of the law. This is yet another example of how the development of technology (and of people’s understanding and use of it) is coming under scrutiny as people hope to find a balance between private and public access.
