A long-time reader of this blog and a fellow St.Louisan Nancy P. offered this brilliant suggestion as to how one should respond to (potential) employers’ requests that one give them one’s Facebook password:
I will consider your request when you have gathered original copies of privacy releases from the “friends” and from any others who may have been seen in a photo on my private Facebook page. I also require you to obtain from Facebook’s general counsel a specifically worded consent for you to access my private Facebook page via password. The action of giving a password to some person other than the registered user is considered a violation of terms of service, and may be illegal. Furthermore, I suspect that you would like to prevent your company from being banned or sued by Facebook. Lawyers in most civil suits take a scattershot method of naming defendents, and any sloppiness on your part in obtaining all consents from “friends” and any people present in photos on the private site may expose you to lawsuits from these individuals, and possibly lawsuits by Facebook corporate defendant in any countersuit. Needless to say, I would be a target of all lawsuits as well, but generally plaintiffs’ lawyers pursue corporate deep pockets, and individuals with relatively few assets are assigned minimal responsibility.
Brava Nancy P.!