Thought to live by.
You have no privacy—Get used to it—Scott McNealy
In colonial days, the voting process was different than it is today. Each voter went to the courthouse and publicly announced the candidate he was voting for. You got fired if you didn't vote for the candidate your boss wanted you to. Simple as that. The secret ballot system was invented to protect you from this encroachment of your liberty.
Things went smoothly until the 1950s when McCarthyism and the cold war, when the government (and especially the FBI under the direction of J. Edgar Hoover) began intensely spying on the American citizenry. There is no doubt that the NSA spying also involved providing the names of persons actively campaigning for stronger legislation protecting workers' rights to the HR departments of fortune 500 companies. They did this to prevent those who wanted more protection from being employed.
Today, we have a similar situation due to new technology. Teachers and employers are using search engines to block the education or employment of anyone who differs from them about politics, religion, or anything else. One employer rejected a job candidate because his profile on a dating site indicated he was willing to date someone whose age differed from his by more than five years, and the hiring manager thought this was terrible. This man was 58 years old and indicated his desirable mate could be between 35 and 70. Can you imagine the horror this hiring manager feels when someone is willing to date or marry interracially! And how does your choice of who you date or your potential spouse affect your ability to do your job? So your first amendment rights are being violated. This time by private business, not the government. Tough! Our lawmakers are afraid to enact legislation restricting what data employers and educators can use because these companies and colleges have bought the lawmakers off with their campaign contributions. Fortune 500 companies gave House of Representatives members campaign contributions exceeding $100,000 if they opposed the passage of HR3149, which only involved using of credit reports!
Realizing this victory, the HR people have become bolder. They now want the password to your Facebook page, any other websites you frequent, and they want to look at your cell phone to see what apps you have installed. If you are dating or are married to anybody who is not age or race appropriate (in their opinion,) and do you have any naked pictures of your significant other (even if your significant other is your spouse.) One hiring manager even stated that the "mode of living" clause in your hiring agreement meant that you will let a private investigator employed by his firm enter your house and search your belongings and files!
I don't believe that an employer should have the right to look up ANY information about a job candidate that is not related to his or her ability to do the job. Any hiring manager who does this should be found guilty of a criminal offense, given a prison term of not less than 20 years. When a company lets their hiring managers do this, they should be fined one million dollars minimum for each candidate whose privacy rights have been violated.
Want a job? Then keep your opinions to yourself and keep your mouth (and keyboard) shut. You have no first amendment rights or a right to have an opinion about anything. I know an engineer who got fired because his boss drove by his house before the last election and didn't like a yard sign he had in his yard for a candidate who was "not acceptable." Write to your congressional person or senator (privately, not on your blog) demanding some restrictions on what types of information educators and employers can search for and use in making decisions. And boycott the products and services from any company you suspect of unnecessary snooping into people's private lives.
The British Columbia Personal Protection Act In British Columbia, Canada, the Personal Information Protection Act (BC)("PIPA") governs how private organizations may collect, use and disclose personal information. We don't have similar legislation here in the US because the people whose job it is to bribe our lawmakers (called LOBBYISTS) all represent large corporations with lots of money. No one represents the common citizen.
Ban The Box Stop employers from arbitrarily refusing to hire someone who had a misdemeanor of minor in possession of alcohol 40 years ago.
HR3149 This bill was vehimently opposed by business because it restricts their right to invade your privacy.
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