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You are here: Home / Employee Relations / Employers may not be able to conduct Facebook checks on prospective employees

By Christina Catenacci, BA, LLB, LLM, PhD | < 1 Minutes Read September 3, 2010

Employers may not be able to conduct Facebook checks on prospective employees

I just read an interesting article saying that Germany may be the first to pass a law making it illegal for employers to spy on job applicants’ private postings on Facebook.

The proposed law aims to address privacy concerns about certain online services, such as social networks and Google Street View. Apparently, there has been public outrage in Germany over corporations checking on private employee emails and filming sales clerks during coffee breaks.

At this point, the regulations have not yet been passed, and some are finding it difficult to imagine them being in force. It would also be challenging to prove a violation and enforce the law to win damages.

For instance, employers would still be able to conduct Internet searches on a job applicant, and could view business-related posts on websites such as LinkedIn, but could not go into Facebook and become a “friend” of the applicant, learning even more private details about the person.

The proposed law would also prohibit video surveillance in private areas such as washrooms, under threat of a 300,000 Euro fine. On the other hand, this type of surveillance would still be allowed in public areas.

Some view the proposed bill as a healthy balance between employee rights to privacy and employer rights to know valuable information about employees.

What do you think?

Do you think this type of law could ever be passed in Canada?

Christina Catenacci
First Reference Human Resources and Compliance Editor

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Christina Catenacci, BA, LLB, LLM, PhD
Christina Catenacci, BA, LLB, LLM, PhD, is a member of the Law Society of Ontario. Christina worked as an editor with First Reference between 2005 and 2015 working on publications including The Human Resources Advisor (Ontario, Western and Atlantic editions), HRinfodesk, and First Reference Talks blog discussing topics in Canadian Labour and Employment Law. She continues to contribute to First Reference Talks as a regular guest blogger, where she writes on privacy and surveillance topics. Christina has also appeared in the Montreal AI Ethics Institute's AI Brief, International Association of Privacy Professionals’ Privacy Advisor, Tech Policy Press, and Slaw - Canada's online legal magazine.
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Article by Christina Catenacci, BA, LLB, LLM, PhD / Employee Relations, Privacy / background checks, balance between employee rights to privacy and employer rights to know, Employee privacy rights, Employment background checks, employment law, facebook, Facebook checks on prospective employees, Germany, Monitoring, privacy, Privacy in the workplace, selection process, social media, social media activities at work, social networks, spy on employees, surveillance

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About Christina Catenacci, BA, LLB, LLM, PhD

Christina Catenacci, BA, LLB, LLM, PhD, is a member of the Law Society of Ontario. Christina worked as an editor with First Reference between 2005 and 2015 working on publications including The Human Resources Advisor (Ontario, Western and Atlantic editions), HRinfodesk, and First Reference Talks blog discussing topics in Canadian Labour and Employment Law. She continues to contribute to First Reference Talks as a regular guest blogger, where she writes on privacy and surveillance topics. Christina has also appeared in the Montreal AI Ethics Institute's AI Brief, International Association of Privacy Professionals’ Privacy Advisor, Tech Policy Press, and Slaw - Canada's online legal magazine.

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