New Services Adds Your Drunken Facebook Photos To Employer Background Checks

[Ryan Ruck]

New Services Adds Your Drunken Facebook Photos To Employer Background Checks, For Up To Seven Years

June 21, 2011



The FTC has given thumbs up to a company, Social Intelligence Corp., selling a new kind of employee background check to employers. This one scours the internet for your posts and pictures to social media sites and creates a file of all the dumb stuff you ever uploaded online. For instance, this sample they provided was flagged for "Demonstrating potentially violent behavior" because of "flagrant display of weapons or bombs."

The FTC said that the file, which will last for up to seven years, does not violate the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The company also says that info in your file will be updated when you remove pictures from the social media sites. Forbes reports, "new employers who run searches through Social Intelligence won't have access to the materials if they are completely removed from the Internet."

Here is a statement on their privacy policy the company's COO sent Forbes:

While we store information for up to seven years we do not "reuse" that information for new reports. Per our policies and obligations under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, we run new reports on applicants on each new search to ensure the most accurate and up-to-date information is utilized, and we store the information to maintain a verifiable chain-of-custody in-case the information is ever needed for legal reasons. We are not however building a "database" on individuals that will be evaluated each time they apply for a job and potentially could be used adversely even if they have cleaned up their profiles.

Another profile was flagged for having racist tendencies for clicking "Like" on a Facebook group called, "I shouldn't have to press 1 for English. We are in the United States. Learn the language."

So many things wrong here I don't even know where to begin...

* How do they know they have the right "you?" The profile on "John Smith" has got to be horrendous.
* Can you now sabotage someone's job prospects by creating a fake profile of them filled with racist, homophobic and violent imagery?
* Considering how hard it is to fix an error on your credit report, how hard will it be to fix an error on your social media report?

"Dislike."

[American Patriot]

Another profile was flagged for having racist tendencies for clicking "Like" on a Facebook group called, "I shouldn't have to press 1 for English. We are in the United States. Learn the language."

OMFG.

I think it is BULLSHIT I HAVE TO PRESS 1 FOR ENGLISH.

fuck them

[American Patriot]

* Can you now sabotage someone's job prospects by creating a fake profile of them filled with racist, homophobic and violent imagery?

[American Patriot]

* How do they know they have the right "you?" The profile on "John Smith" has got to be horrendous.

They don't know. My wife has "Rick Donaldson" on her profile, twice. Two different guys.

Me and the one in Texas who is a Libertarian... lol

[American Patriot]

In the future, criminals are caught before the crimes they commit, but one of the officers in the special unit is accused of one such crime and sets out to prove his innocence.

THIS is precisely why the left doesn't want profiling. They don't want criminals caught first. The reason being they wouldn't catch the right ones you see. In America, white males who are over 30ish or 40ish are considered the criminals and they all KNOW we are criminals.

[Backstop]

You gotta watch what you put online.

My old GF was denied an increased level in her security clearance for a letter she wrote.

Edit:

To be clear, she didn't post it online, but the folks she sent it to did.

So guess this is a bit different.

[catfish]

Since I've joined Facebook, I'm amazed at what people post and can't believe how stupid some of them are. I found out one of my cousins was cheating on his wife after she posted it on her page. Unbelievable!

[Backstop]

Yikes.

It's like people got rid of their shame and manners when facebook came around.

I joined a few years back after my HS somehow found my email, and invited me to join as they were having a reunion - I graduated in 1975.

Man, I got bombared with messages from folks I couldn't even remember.

Plus my bottom line thought was: if I really wanted to stay in contact with all those folks, I would have.

So I just abandoned that account. I was smart enough to make a seperate email address to register. I have never posted a pic of any sort on my account.

But just the other day I got a notification or whatever it is that another person from my class sent me a message.

It's like it won't go away.

[American Patriot]

Since I've joined Facebook, I'm amazed at what people post and can't believe how stupid some of them are. I found out one of my cousins was cheating on his wife after she posted it on her page. Unbelievable!

I'm sorry Catfish, I'll be more careful in the future....

[American Patriot]

Yikes.

It's like people got rid of their shame and manners when facebook came around.

I joined a few years back after my HS somehow found my email, and invited me to join as they were having a reunion - I graduated in 1975.

Man, I got bombared with messages from folks I couldn't even remember.

Plus my bottom line thought was: if I really wanted to stay in contact with all those folks, I would have.

So I just abandoned that account. I was smart enough to make a seperate email address to register. I have never posted a pic of any sort on my account.

But just the other day I got a notification or whatever it is that another person from my class sent me a message.

It's like it won't go away.

You can actually DELETE the account, instead of "abandon it".

I have Facebook.

I know everyone that I've friended. All of them are either family or they are friends from High School, or friends I knew back in DC and OK.

They are all folks I DO want to remain in contact with.

If anyone of you want to be friended send me a note. Anyone who doesn't don't worry, I don't hunt people down to make sure they are facebook. LMAO.

[Backstop]

Didn't know I could delete it...thanks.