Bee22 Pianezza

Candidates who want to work for the City of Bozeman in Montana are being asked to supply all the Web sites, forums, and social networking groups they participate in, along with their usernames and passwords. The City does this to ensure that the people they hire have the "highest moral character" and are a "good fit for the City", according to The Consumerist.

The debate rages on as to whether hiring managers should be looking at candidates' profiles, let alone have access to log-in information.

Word on the street is:
- that there is nothing wrong with searching the profile of a candidate on the Web, there is nothing wrong with asking for the list of sites where the candidate participates in, but asking for passwords crosses the line;

- that this is tantamount to submitting to a strip search;

- that you can't take an employee's personal life into account unless it involves something criminal, which can be found out through routine background checks anyway;

- that it is illegal to ask an employee their marital status, age, etc, and that looking at their social network profiles reveals that kind of information;

- that employees should be educated on protecting their identity online, instead of the employer trying to gain access to their profiles.

Let's hear your thoughts!