Social Media Protection Laws Created, Maryland Takes Initiative

With the combined help of the Maryland State Legislators, The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services employee Robert Collins, the state of Maryland passed the nation’s first bill banning employers from asking their employees and applicants for social media passwords. Six other states have begun to follow this standard of ethics, proposing similar bills that prohibit employers from accessing private social networking accounts.

Employers Crossing the Boundary of Ethics in order to Further Evaluate Their Employees

When it comes to defining ethics, we tend to all agree on general topics such as stealing and lying, but there are more complex ideas which have been brought into topic as a result of our late technological advancements.  In the past, when we heard the phrase “right to privacy” the thoughts provoked mainly dealt with homes and mail and other tangible properties.  In today’s day and age, we are forced to protect digital property such as emails and online profiles.  Unfortunately, the enforcer of ethical issues is the law and they are often given very difficult issues such as the meaning of public record and public information.  The argument is often made that if you do not have privacy settings on these online profiles, there are no illegalities to be argued when an employer accesses your accounts.  It is only when they force someone to give up their accounts due to privacy settings that the line of ethics has been breached.

137 million Facebook users, the vast majority do utilize privacy settings, many of which still claim to have faced privacy issues, one of whom was Robert Collins.  When Collins’ employer demanded he give up his account passwords in order to pass a reinstatement interview, Collins felt “violated”.  Leaving their employee with the choice of his privacy or his livelihood, the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services not only violated the privacy of Collins, but also his friends, family, and anyone else who could be accessed from the account, crossing an ethical boundary of a right to privacy.  As a result, Collins notified the ACLU, and with the help of state legislators a bill was passed which deems it illegal for employers to require personal social networking accounts.

           

Its ironic really, that we claim our social media privacy is lacking yet we constantly update our personal “statuses” for the world to see.  And perhaps this fine line of ethical privacies that we claim to be violated is being violated, but we are not helping our own cause.  According to consumer reports “almost 13 million Facebook users said they had never set, or didn’t know about Facebook’s privacy tools. “ How can Americans expect their employers to not check out their Facebook or Twitter pages if they allow for anyone with Internet access to do so? 

There are Additional Methods to Protect Your Social Networking Accounts From Unwanted Eyes

In an interview with CNN, computer expert Peter Vogel explained that when Facebook makes updates to its Privacy settings, which it often does, they tend to receive a negative response from consumers. However, Vogel claims that the majority of consumers choose to never read Facebook’s privacy policies.  

This consumer ignorance is responsible for many of the controversial privacy issues, including employer invasiveness.  How can we make the argument that we our rights out being violated if we accept the terms and conditions of a networking website without even glancing at them?  In addition to reading the privacy settings, which these networks provide, there are other ways to ensure your online image is the one that you would want employers to see.  According to Forbes Magazine, Googling oneself may be a good start.  Completing a background check of yourself beforehand will make you aware of all possible issues.  According to Forbes magazine, Facebook has made recent changes to its privacy settings, making it easier to find people you are searching for.  Make sure you do not have any unwanted pictures of yourself as well as any other aspects of your profile that may be considered unprofessional.

Ethical Standards Pose Controversy

It is clear that these issues are beginning to be solved but there are simply too many complications to set a standard.  We must take on our responsibility and protect ourselves and our digital information.  “After all, your online privacy should be up to you, not the state you live in or your employer.” -  American Civil Liberties Union