Background Checks including Twitter and Facebook?
Surviving a background check just got tougher. And it's soon going to get harder still, as Internet search technology grows more sophisticated: Employers have started scouring the web—social networking sites in particular—to check up on potential hires.
If you've ever posted anything that suggests you might be somebody who likes a racist joke, drinks too much booze or maybe is a bit too fond of guns—these all can be grounds for an employer telling you, "Thanks, but no."
And it's all perfectly legal. The Federal Trade Commission has just given the okay for Social Intelligence Corp. to sell these reports to employers and the file will last for seven long years.
But suppose you're clean as a whistle with your online use of social network sites. It's still possible that among your Facebook friends, unbeknownst to you, there's someone with a criminal record. An employer could turn you down for having iffy friends and not run afoul of any employment discrimination law.
ABC News - ALAN FARNHAM
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/job-tweets-background-checks-employers-now-include-postings/story?id=13908874
Wow! Well, I must say I am not surprised. I am sure potential employers have been doing this for some time now. But to allow a company to compile your whole online history and sell it to people? How is that ethical? And if it isn't ethical, how is it legal? Sure Facebook and Twitter have disclosures which state roughly that they have every right to use any intellectual material you post on their website. However, private website, like this one, are also another matter entirely. What I write here I consider my intellectual property. If someone comes by and copies this information and uses it to make profit by selling it to companies, then I have a serious problem with that.
I along with countless other internet regulars tend to view the World Wide Web as a free speech area. Sadly this area seems to be constantly under attack. I doubt it will last very much longer before we are fully accountable for anything we write here. The politicians and those who are afraid of critics or easily offended will always be the squeaky wheel in the crowd. As we all know, the squeaky wheel gets the oil in this nation, no matter what the cost.
Maybe it is time to develop another World Wide Web? One which insures freedom of speech? Perhaps limit it to personal, non profit, and special interest websites?
Good idea, right? Content on these sites would be unregulated by most laws, and non-admissible in the business world. Similarly, if you are operating with a commercial interest (aside form running ads or other donation related activities to support the website) outside of the Internet, you must only stay on your side of the internet in terms of making money. i.e. This 'Social Intelligence Corp.' couldn't purchase information from a website operating on the free speech side, nor could it use that information. This would allow large corporate websites like Facebook to stay on the business side, and maintain their current ops. But will also open the door for someone on the free speech side to develop a free speech social networking site.
I see this as the coolest idea and easiest solution at this point. We all know that the internet is being regulated to hell by those in charge. As they find the need to censor and track everyone who opposes them in the name of "national security". I figure that the new sub-division would be designated by a different prefix of some sort before the domain name. Currently existing domains could opt into this sub-division through their domain hosts. I only hope someone sees this and runs with the idea. But please remember me if you make a ton of money selling this idea :P