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Full-Text Articles in Law
Social Media And The Job Market: How To Reconcile Applicant Privacy With Employer Needs, Peter B. Baumhart
Social Media And The Job Market: How To Reconcile Applicant Privacy With Employer Needs, Peter B. Baumhart
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
In the modern technological age, social media allows us to communicate vast amounts of personal information to countless people instantaneously. This information is valuable to more than just our “friends” and “followers,” however. Prospective employers can use this personal data to inform hiring decisions, thereby maximizing fit and minimizing potential liability. The question then arises, how best to acquire this information? For job applicants, the counter-question is how best to protect the privacy of their social media accounts. As these two competing desires begin to clash, it is important to find a method to mediate the conflict. Existing privacy law, …
Whose Social Network Account: A Trade Secret Approach To Allocating Rights, Zoe Argento
Whose Social Network Account: A Trade Secret Approach To Allocating Rights, Zoe Argento
Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review
Who has the superior right to a social network account? This is the question in a growing number of disputes between employers and workers over social network accounts. The problem has no clear legal precedent. Although the disputes implicate rights under trademark, copyright, and privacy law, these legal paradigms fail to address the core issue. At base, disputes over social network accounts are disputes over the right to access the people, sometimes numbering in the tens of thousands, who follow an account. This Article evaluates the problem from the perspective of the public interest in social network use, particularly the …
The Need To Prevent Employers From Accessing Private Social Network Profiles, Brett Novick
The Need To Prevent Employers From Accessing Private Social Network Profiles, Brett Novick
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform Caveat
In March 2012, social network privacy became a conversation topic after news reports of the story of Justin Bassett, a job applicant who withdrew his application in the middle of an interview when the interviewer asked him for the username and password of his private Facebook account. Although the issue has received much attention from the public and media, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has stated that it has no interest in prosecuting employers for asking for social networking account information. Fortunately, legislation that would make it illegal for employers to ask for the username and passwords for social networking …