OT - Job seekers getting asked for Facebook passwords

[Red Green]

In case you missed this one.

[HeyBub]

No biggie. I don't HAVE a facebook page!

At the other extreme are those whose sense of self-worth is determined by how many "friends" they have.

Pitiful.

[krw]

It's a four-letter word!

[Ed Pawlowski]

I don't even have a Facebook page, but if asked for the information, I'd tell them to F off and leave. I'd not work for a company that would even ask for such information.

We're losing our freedom, piece by piece.

[Steve Barker]

pretty simple solution to all that. Deactivate the account while job searching and interviewing and say " i have no facebook account." duh.

[Stormin Mormon]

Set up a sacrificial account?

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

.

pretty simple solution to all that. Deactivate the account while job searching and interviewing and say " i have no facebook account." duh.

[Bill]

For jobs requiring a security background check, they want to know everything about you. Some require a polygraph test as well.

Or if the job was for a big name politician, they would want to make sure you have nothing which could later embarrass the politician.

For THOSE types of jobs, seems reasonable to me.

But for McDonalds, assembling parts, or any regular job, who cares? No reason to check.

As for people who text on a cell phone or post things about themselves on the internet, they should realize they are leaving a written record of everything they say. Quite different from the days when people used to "talk" to each other!

[Fake ID]

They used to demand your password to USENET.

m

[tangerine3]

Or just dont have a facebook account at all.

And the best answer is to tell them you dont have a computer or other device to use the internet.

After all, not everyone uses that stuff, and even those of us who do, dont necessarily use social networking. I'm one of them. I wouldn't use that piece of shit facebook if someone paid me. Just for fun, I signed up on facebook under the name of one of my pets, and did it from a WIFI spot. It was one of the biggest wastes of time I ever spent. I can not see why anyone uses that crap. I nuked the account after a few weeks. If I want to see friends I see them in person, or phone them. Or I email them photos, which is just between me and them. Why would I want the whole world seeing pictures of my vacation or my kids? Then again, why would I want to see those same kind of pictures of strangers who seem to believe their *real friends* are those on their facebook page, and the more of these "friends" they have, the more important they are.

Usenet is all I need for discussions. Email or the phone is for my real life friends to share a little chat or pictures. The internet is turning into a sewer with all this social networking crap. And if you dont know it, everytime you go to any website with a facebook logo on the page, facebook can and does read data from your hard drive. (even if you are not a FB member). However, there are "tools" to block them, and I use all of these "tools". When I encounter a link to facebook and if I was to click on it by accident, I get a "site not found" error message. Same with Twitter.

[HeyBub]

Almost every identifying number out there contains a check-digit. The check-digit (CD) is a mathematical combination of the other digits and is used to verify the transcription integrity of the target number. Here's an example: Suppose the identifying number (your driver's license number, a part number, etc.) is "12345". A CD algorithm might be to simply add the numbers (15 in the example) and stick the units digits of the sum, a "5", on the end of the original number. This would yield "12345-5". Thereafter, if someone types "72345-5" - mistaking the leading "1" for a "7" - the computer would go "TILT" and reject the number.

All that said, it's interesting to note that your Social Security Number does NOT contain a check-digit ! (SSNs were developed before the universal use of check-digits.) That, in turn, means that user's of your SSN (usually) have no way of knowing the number you provided is accurate.

While some deliberate uses of a fake SSN may expose you to a significant liability, such as opening a bank account where your info is sent to the IRS, there is no liability for a "mistake." For example, transposing two digits is a common error in all renditions of number strings, i.e.,

345661 --> 435661.

Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.

[HeyBub]

Bless you.

I commend for your consideration a book whose title is "What do you care what other people think" by Richard Feynman. Here's a small vignette:

[ring, ring]

"Hello"

"Hello. Is this Dr. Feynman?"

"(wearily) Yes"

"Dr. Richard P. Feynman?"

"Yes"

"Dr Feynman, my name is Joe Blow. I am the United States Ambassador to the Court of King Gustav V of Norway. It is my distinct pleasure to inform you that you have been awarded the 1965 Nobel Prize in Physics!"

"Do you know what the hell time it is in California?"

"Er... No."

"It is three o'clock in the goddamn morning. Call back after nine!"

[click]

"???"

I firmly believe that if there were ten people in the country who had the same world view as Richard Feynman, we could rule the nation.

There's you and me.

That's two.

[HeyBub]

Um, maybe. If I as an employer found the following post, I'd give the applicant a pass.

"Once again the Nazi government was shamed. The charges of arson against a business were dismissed yesterday, just like the two before that. Freedom Rules!"

[George]

What really annoys me is when someone will say "it is a good thing that an anal probe will now be required for "y" and don't complain because we already need an anal probe for "x"...

[N8N]

I wouldn't want to *hire* someone who would willingly hand over a password to a facebook account. They'd be an IT liability, and clearly don't have the intestinal fortitude to point out to those above when something is a stupid idea. I would also not want to work for someone who would ask me for a password to a personal account unless it was a test for stupidity as above.

nate

[N8N]

Normally I'd think you were snarking, but I can't tell. Because Verizon (to be fair, I only have experience with the land line portion of the company, I was too scared to ever consider using them for cell service after receiving such nonexistent "service" consistently over a period of years on various land lines to the point where I just finally went cell-only) does have, hands down, the worst reliability and customer service of any company I've ever dealt with. I'm amazed that they are still in business, frankly. It's that bad. The last place I had a land line, it consistently didn't work, and the last straw was when their service guy didn't show up - because I didn't answer my land line (which didn't work) to confirm the appointment. I couldn't make this shit up.

nate

[N8N]

That can be proven or disproven without the need to have a password to someone's personal account.

nate

[George]

A good friend and I had a similar discussion last night. We both agreed we would push someone who refused to the top of the short list. We also agreed we would award extra points for not even having a facebook account.

[Steve Barker]

novel idea. (i have 7 accounts used for gaming)

[Stormin Mormon]

And, I find annoying, the people who seem amazed and shocked that anyone would refuse such a privacy invasion, anal exam, drug test, background check, NICS check, etc.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

.

What really annoys me is when someone will say "it is a good thing that an anal probe will now be required for "y" and don't complain because we already need an anal probe for "x"...

[Stormin Mormon]

I hadn't thought of that angle.

Phone rings.

Employee: McDonalds of Pittsford, may I help you? Voice: This is Bill, from Burger King of Pittsford. I need the log and pass to your McDonalds account. Employee: You mean my personal account, or the store? Voice: The store, please. Employee: we just changed it. The new password is frenchfry, all one word, and all small letters. Voice: Thank you, that's what I needed.

The next day, a GSF truck rolls up, and attempts to deliver the 4,000 cases of quarter pounder meat the store ordered.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

.

I wouldn't want to *hire* someone who would willingly hand over a password to a facebook account. They'd be an IT liability, and clearly don't have the intestinal fortitude to point out to those above when something is a stupid idea. I would also not want to work for someone who would ask me for a password to a personal account unless it was a test for stupidity as above.

nate