Job Applicants: Surrender Your Facebook Password

AP reported last week that job candidates are increasingly being asked to share their Facebook login information with potential employers. Now, the issue is spurring a backlash from Facebook and some lawmakers.

More employers are asking for access to Facebook accounts to vet job candidates, in large part because many users have their profiles set to private, making them available only to selected people or networks. Apparently this is more prevalent among public agencies, especially those seeking to fill law enforcement positions like police officers or 911 dispatchers, AP reported last week.

Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., on Sunday wrote to the Justice Department and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, asking them to launch a federal investigation into the trend of employers demanding job applicants turn over their user names and passwords for social networking and other websites to gain access to personal information.

Facebook on Friday also advised users to decline requests from employers, noting that such requests undermine the privacy expectations and security of users and their friends, and potentially expose the employer to unanticipated legal liability.

"In an age when more and more of our personal information -- and our private social interactions -- are online, it is vital that all individuals be allowed to determine for themselves what personal information they want to make public and protect personal information from their would-be employers," Schumer said.

Has a potential employer ever asked for your login information for Facebook or any other social media website? What did you do?