Comments on: Want a job? Give Bozeman your Facebook, Google passwords

The Montana city wants applicants to provide all "Web site" user names and passwords--and lists YouTube, Facebook, and MySpace as example sites--raising privacy and free speech concerns.

[jessiethe3rd]

Livin' innn Ameerriccaaaa *SING!*

[V2Blast]

Somehow, I don't think many people will be applying for government jobs there.

[shamanskyh]

the fact that they refer to a Facebook Profile as a "face page" really shows this city's true ignorance.

[yagottabekidding]

We CANNOT be giving up our privacy and freedom! Job or no job. I'd tell them to go pound sand.

[lordmorgul]

""They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."" as quoted by Benjamin Franklin
The city does not have any moral or legal obligation to conduct a search of private communications of any applicant. This is clearly infringement of first amendment rights to do without consent, and as EFF attorney Kevin Bankston said it most likely constitutes an illegal requirement for employment... especially because it is a government entity and hiring for a tax funded position.

[iwearmatchingsocks]

'Those who would sacrifice freedom for security deserve neither' - Benjamin Franklin

[frankz00]

The Goons are coming. These "social networks" are definitely government funded surveillance systems designed to give you the illusion that you are "keeping in touch". The fact is you're being watched. I'll be dead by tomorrow and this post will be deleted before you can read it.

[gerrrg]

What's indefensible is the request for passwords. A government only needs to ask for website IDs, and look over their postings for offensive materials, etc.

Doesn't anyone THINK in Bozeman?

[pentest]

They have no right to look over anything people post.

[carolax]

One more reason I don't live in Montana.

[KeithBeucler]

Although I strongly disagree with the city of Bozeman's ridiculous request, is it any more outrageous than having your bodily fluids searched? For a country that is based on liberty and freedom, it seems that the fundamentals that this country is based on are just a distant memory. Bye,bye first amendment, it was fun while it lasted.

[umbrae]

I agree with you. Or even a "personality" test. Honestly, everyone should open their own business and stop working for other corporations. These policies will change once no one shows up for employment.

[Orion Blastar]

They can have my user IDs and passwords when they pry them out of my cold dead hands. :)

This is one of those "Big Brother" freedom and rights violation in which the "Thought Police" totally invade your privacy. I hope that other governments and corporations don't adopt it. I hope that it does not become a tend. It will only lead to more rights and freedom violations.

Who can pass that sort of test, you give out your user IDs and passwords and then violate online terms of service rules and get your accounts deleted. Might as well file for the accounts to get deleted before applying for the job, and then say you had all accounts deleted, and then that would be the truth and they couldn't hold it against you. Either that or delete all accounts and then create new ones that are blank and give them the user ID and password to those new accounts and then they can see that you did nothing on those sites. Would they then refuse to hire you for being too boring?

[ITcomposer]

Easy way to circumvent this, just open up a new set of IDs and voila, hand them over to these morons and they will be giddy thinking that they just robbed you of your privacy.... Losers!

[mhungry]

How can this POSSIBLY be legal? Forget that, how can it possibly be ETHICAL to have my personal logins and passwords written down, in plain english, for all to see? How on earth do they think, as a public employer especially, that they have the right to access my personal email and messages?

It says list "any and all" and they give 3 blank lines LOL...
Does this mean I'd also have to give them my adultfriendfinder.com, bondage.com, and collarme.com logins; if I don't i'd have been "lying" and could be fired?

[Einzee]

Im not totally against what these ppl are wanting. I'd gladly give up my user name for all websites that I am registered on, but there is no way I'd give up a password. It wouldn't be too difficult to run my name cuz it is the same on ALL sites.

[Pravitus]

The apparently undereducated Greg Sullivan has only worked for the city 3 months...

BTW,

Here's contact infor for his bosses....

Mayor Kaaren Jacobson
587-5968
[e-mail]

Deputy Mayor/Commissioner Jeff Krauss
582-2341
[e-mail]

Commissioner Jeff Rupp
586-1380
[e-mail]

Commissioner Sean Becker
581-7571
[e-mail]

Commissioner Eric Bryson
582-2347
[e-mail]

To email the City Commission as a group, please send your email to [e-mail], and the City Clerk's Office will forward your email to the Commission.

[umbrae]

Glad I don't live there. Its a very stupid policy. Any person that gives over this information for a job cannot be trusted. What about the old trick:

"Hi, I am from the IT department. Please give me your username and password."

Any person giving the keys to their personal, digital life would not think twice about this and fall for the oldest social engineering hack in the book.

[Dalkorian]

Hitler would be creaming in his pants if he could get this much influence and control over his subjects. Why don't they just require all employees to not only allow them to put networking cameras covering every inch of every room in their homes, but also require them to wear video cameras to prove they're not breaking the law at any time? What's the difference? Oh, don't forget to require them to change their mailing addresses to allow the government to read their snail mail too.

Disgusting.

[Magesteff]

According to the form they were not asking for the "face page" website, they were asking for access to everything, including the right to change or edit anything that might appear there. What would prevent someone in HR from using the information provided to create false information to prevent someone from being hired, or to get them fired if a dispute developes over time?

Time and time again we are warned "Do not give out your username or password to anyone who asks for it. We especially tell this to children. Shame on the City of Bozman for breaching common sense here. Ask for the website address sure, I can understand that - but lots of people use the social sites to complain about past and present employers as a way to vent frustrations safely.

It's like asking an applicant to allow the City to wire tap a phone, just so they can check on the conversations they are having to be sure they aren't part of a criminal organization. Last I checked you still need a warrant for that (even if it is a secret Homeland Security one).

[lockerridge]

Okay now this is getting absolutely ridiculous! I do not even think that companies or organizations have the right to drug test a person before they hire them. If after they hire someone, if that person messes up continuously or in a big way one time.. then they have the right to ask for .. demand... drug testing.. but not before!

This is an invasion of a person private life.. my life is not my work.. my life is mine and my work is the thing I do to have my life! The two should never mix up and become seen as one.. look a carreer is one thing.. that person basically gives themselves to the making of their persona as their job title.. but to just work in the Water Dept. at some town... nah.. this is really going above the board and I for one am shocked that people will subscribe to it to gain a job. That is living in total fear, and never able to have any fun on the internet! No one and I repeat no one represents themselves completely on the internet.. that is the fun and the beauty of it!