Bozeman, Montana - A controversial move by Bozeman City officials is under public scrutiny. As part of mandatory employment background checks for jobs within the city of Bozeman, applicants are now required to submit their social networking site login usernames and passwords. These sites include but are not limited to Facebook, Google, Yahoo, YouTube, MySpace and other popular networking sites. A waiver is included for applicants to sign, and three lines on all application forms where you can write down your login information.
The weird thing is that the city has had this procedure for years, and officials maintain that the policy is necessary for employees and employer's safety. The American Civil Liberties Union of Montana has a different view, they think that the policy is obviously crossing the line and is a violation of numerous privacy policy laws.
The group mentioned that the requirement of access to password protected personal information is like asking a person to give you access to read all his/her emails. The city already has access to publicly accessible information like court records and criminal background check reports, and the requirement of logins and passwords to applicant’s personal profile sounded like overkill to the people concerned.
Protesters and Privacy policy advocates claim that the checking of credit reports, background checks, criminal history checks, past employment, and personal history records are sufficient to determine an individual’s eligibility for any position.
As of this articles release, the city of Bozeman made a
press release on their website:The City of Bozeman believes we have a responsibility to ensure candidates hired for positions of public trust are subject to a thorough background check. The extent of our request for a candidate’s password, user name, or other internet information appears to have exceeded that which is acceptable to our community. We appreciate the concern many citizens have expressed regarding this practice and apologize for the negative impact this issue is having on the City of Bozeman.
Effective at 12:00 p.m. today, Friday June 19, 2009, the City of Bozeman permanently ceased the practice of requesting candidates selected for City positions under a provisional job offer to provide user names and passwords for the candidate’s internet sites.
In addition, until further notice, the City will suspend its practice of reviewing candidate’s password protected internet information until the City conducts a more comprehensive evaluation of the practice.
Since the initial media inquiries, the City of Bozeman has been reviewing the practice of requesting user names and passwords to access a candidate’s internet sites. Today’s decision to terminate the use of passwords and usernames in this process reflects the City’s commitment to reconsider this practice. In addition, today’s decision to suspend the practice of inquiring into a candidate’s password protected internet sites demonstrates a continued commitment to ensure the City’s hiring practices comply with state and federal law and protect the safety of Bozeman residents.
Chris A. Kukulski
City Manager"
