Should human resource departments try to gain access to private socials? Screening someone’s digital life during hiring is common, but particular methods may bring legal and ethical concerns. There are many reasons why a company shouldn’t ask applicants for their social media passwords. 

Why Do Employers Ask for Passwords?

Around 71% of hiring professionals feel they can effectively screen applicants by browsing their socials. After all, people can reveal a lot about their personality, behaviors and work ethic when they post online. 

Many also believe checking social media is necessary. After a candidate gets the job, they might go viral from a single comment or post. If people find where they work, the company could get review-bombed or come under fire. A social media screening seems like an obvious way to protect its reputation. So while candidates often expect employers to browse their LinkedIn profiles, recruiters are increasingly turning to other platforms as well, including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

A social media check used to be as easy as finding a profile and scrolling through their posts, but most people are more cautious online now. Private accounts are prevalent, so human resource (HR) professionals may not get anywhere even if they know the applicant’s social media handles. In response, perhaps unexpectedly, many recruiters ask for passwords to gain access.

What Should Stop Employers from Asking?

Before employers ask for a Facebook password, they should consider the potential legal and ethical consequences.

1. Potential Legal Issues

There are many possible legal issues surrounding accessing someone’s social media account. For example, Congress recently updated the Stored Communications Act to protect accounts from screening without explicit consent. The legality is uncertain even if they agree to let an HR professional screen them. For example, what happens when they permit someone to look at posts but find they access their private messages instead? It opens the company up to legal repercussions. 

The legality of accessing a candidate’s social media varies from state to state. For example, the California Consumer Privacy Act requires employers to inform of screenings in advance and disclose how they’ll use the information they find. Even if that’s not a primary concern for companies sourcing locally, it may unnecessarily lengthen the process for those hiring remote workers. 

2. Ethical Concerns

Ethical concerns are another big reason employers shouldn’t ask applicants for passwords to their socials. There isn’t a reliable way to ensure complete transparency, meaning it might lead to abuse of access. For example, what stops a hiring professional from scrolling through private messages?

Traditional social media screening limits hiring personnel because they only see what everyone else can. However, they gain total control once they’re logged in. Since there’s no real way to monitor how they use their privilege, there’s potential for misuse. 

Additionally, password storage should also be a chief concern. Whether the HR department writes it down or stores it on a computer, it’s subject to being leaked. The applicant’s personal information is essentially in their hands, so it doesn’t look good if their personal information is compromised. While responsibility likely won’t be traced back to the company, the ethical implications aren’t favorable. 

3. Untrustworthy Appearance

Most people with an online presence are knowledgeable about proper safety behavior — it may even be why an applicant’s account is private in the first place. There’s a chance they won’t engage with a password request from a recruiter. They might even believe the whole thing is part of an elaborate internet scam. 

Phishers often seek personal details to commit synthetic identity fraud. Conventional phishing typically involves malicious links, but many have upgraded their tactics. It’s common for them to pose as recruiters to get identifying details. Since a social media account contains a host of them, it’s a likely target. 

Additionally, most people link their socials — once someone gets into one, they can find every other account. The applicant risks losing their entire digital life if they give access to the wrong person.

As a result, employers who ask for a Facebook password might appear to be untrustworthy. With the increased awareness of hiring scams, people might be wary of continuing with the process.

4. Off-Putting Nature

Billions of people have some form of social media. There were nearly 4.3 billion people using it as of 2021. While its widespread use might make it an effective tool in the eyes of some HR professionals, they should be wary. Most applicants — especially younger ones — value the boundary between their personal and professional lives. An online presence is essentially their personality, so they may not appreciate the intrusion. 

When employers ask for a Facebook password, it’s like asking for the keys to their house. Many aren’t too willing to give a stranger access to their private lives, and it might impact the hiring process. Losing out on an excellent potential employee because of a social media screening is a real possibility.

5. Potential for Bias

Employers should stop asking applicants for their social media passwords because it may create bias. Several federal laws protect applicants against discrimination during the hiring process. If employers find anything about the candidate tied to race, religion or sexual orientation that isn’t plainly visible in person, they may open themselves up to lawsuits.

Outside of legal concerns, judging someone on characteristics found in their social media isn’t ideal. What someone does on their time does not necessarily reflect their professional capabilities. A decision not to move forward based on the private details of someone’s life may cost the company a good candidate.

How to Vet Candidates With Private Socials

While a social media screening might seem necessary in the digital age, pursuing a private account may not be worth it. Instead, talent acquisition professionals should consider alternatives.

Employers can vet candidates in other ways:

• Do a background check: Instead of scouring their social media, HR professionals can simply do a background check. It’s fully in their rights and will uncover more pertinent information.
• Ask for more visibility: While looking through someone’s social media isn’t an ideal vetting method, a company can still choose to do it. It can ask the applicant to make their accounts public temporarily. There’s no guarantee for access, but it looks much better than asking for a password. 
• Ask for varied references: If the HR department wants to see what the candidate is like outside of their professional life, it can ask for references outside of their professional scope.
• Identify the goal: Employers should ask themselves why they want to look through a candidate’s social media. After identifying it, they can find alternative solutions. Most information in their profiles is available through other methods. 

The information on someone’s social media likely won’t grant some sort of clarity to hiring professionals. Sticking to background checks and reference requests is much more accepted and applicable than asking for passwords.

Don’t Ask for Social Media Passwords

More applicants are making their social media accounts private, but it doesn’t mean that hiring professionals need to find a way around it. While companies are within their rights to look at socials, they protect themselves better when they find alternative screening methods.