Ever been asked fro your Facebook password ?

This topic was created by Dominic Connor, Quant Headhunter .

  1. Dominic Connor, Quant Headhunter

    Ever been asked fro your Facebook password ?

    You might have seen that I write a chunk of the Careers articles on the Reg, mostly drawn from my experiences, things people tell me in bars, etc but I thought I'd do some research like a proper journalist.

    So who here has ever been asked for their Facebook password ?

    I read about this crap on US-centric sites but I've never met anyone who has had this request, so if you have let me know how you handled it, anonymously if you want.

    1. matrix26

      Re: Ever been asked fro your Facebook password ?

      Facebook asks me for it if I try to log in.

      Come on how could I pass that up?

      1. Anonymous C0ward
        FAIL

        Re: Ever been asked fro your Facebook password ?

        3 years FFS!

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I would have thought it was bollocks, but

    Here.

    It has to be a trick question, surely?

  3. zanto
    Pint

    i don't have a facebook account

    I guess that's kind of what it is to be a virgin. Is it really that good? Am i missing something? Is that the reason why most of my friends who are on facebook first tried to coax me to give in, then looked at me funny when i didn't and finally became sort of distant?

    oh well, at least i've got beer.... and no. No amount of beer will get me to change my mind.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Teaching assistant says she was suspended for not revealing FB password

    Here.

  5. metooandthemaswell

    I'd like to think I'd stand up, interrupting the interview, calmly put down their abusively paranoid attitude in the space of about two lines, then turn on my heel and walk away with no regrets. In the real world I would probably still refuse, but it might not be so elegant :)

  6. Corinne

    The majority of employers expect you to be able to comply with their data security policy, so demanding you give them a personal password thereby proving that you can't be trusted with secure data seems stupid.

    Then again, I went to one interview where I was required to sign an NDA before being even let past the reception desk yet they expected me to bring live examples of work I'd done for previous employers!

  7. Phil W

    Legality

    IANAL but I would of thought giving someone else your Facebook password ( or any other credentials to a computer system) was actually against the law, under Computer Misuse act.

    Your Facebook account is a set of credentials for your own use on a private companies service. Certainly it is a service that allows you to make information public, but the account and the equipment it runs on belong to a third party, and your access to it is at their discretion.

    Giving your details to another person without the permission of Facebook would constitute you facilitating unauthorised access to Facebook's systems, and your prospective employers use of said credentials would be unauthorised access itself.

    In fact (and even more IANAL here), isn't asking someone to commit a crime for you actually a crime of solicitation? Possibly even blackmail if the situation is actually "commit this crime or we won't employ you".

    If I were asked to handover passwords to any systems the person asking did not own, be it a service like Facebook or a more private system, I would refuse to do so on the above grounds.

  8. JulianB

    Do they mean password?

    I think my initial reply would be along the lines of "My password? Do you mean my ID?" (or whatever term Facebook uses)

    It wouldn't be unreasonable for a prospective employer to want to look at my public persona as revealed on FB, Twitter, LinkedIn etc., to see how it compared to my persona on my CV.

    If they insisted they meant my password, then I'd politely refuse and explain why, as detailed in others' posts, above.

  9. jcitron

    I agree with Julian. This is more plausible and I too would never, ever divulge my password for any system I log into.

    That is a security issue and shame on the HR 'droid asking for it! They should know better than that, or maybe not. They probably have their passwords taped to their monitors ;-)

  10. NotBob
    Joke

    But...

    ...we just wanted to help you tell everyone how awesome we are!

  11. Eion MacDonald

    FB or not never give a password to anyone without a court order.

    Never mind FB (I only use rarely to obtain my kids pictures of offspring, as they do not send by email), however what about the new Windows 10 'feedback' does this nullify any NDA you signed, when you do work in Windows 10; as you cannot 'guarantee' no one else has seen what work you do on windows 10.

    No pass word should ever be revealed to any third party [but does Win 10 have it?] (except in your will for your lawyer to close accounts etc.).

    1. NotBob

      Re: FB or not never give a password to anyone without a court order.

      How do you deal with password changes in your will? Mine is signed and counter signed and sealed and locked away (and ...). Any reasonable password refresh cycle would seem unworkable if it meant messing with the will each time. Even without the logistics of changing the will itself, you don't keep the only copy close at hand, do you?

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Sales and Marketing

    Think that this question is better pointed at those who deal with the great unwashed en masse.

    Sales, marketing or any PR are a lot more likely to be asked for their various social accounts.

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