If you want to apply for a job in Bozeman Montana you no longer have to give them your username and passwords to all your social media sites including Facebook and MySpace.
Until last Friday the city of Bozeman Montana had, for the past several years, required job applicants to provide that information.
The city's rationale was that the policy was needed to "ensure employees’ integrity and protect the public’s trust." The policy became public record when a job applicant sent the information to a Bozeman television station. The reaction was harsh with some people saying the city officials were "out of their minds." In his apology, City Manager Chris Kukulski said,"Please list any and all, current personal or business websites, web pages or memberships on any Internet-based chat rooms, social clubs or forums, to include, but not limited to: Facebook, Google, Yahoo, YouTube.com, MySpace, etc.," the City form states. There are then three lines where applicants can list the Web sites, their user names and log-in information and their passwords.
Industry Radar Blog
Following a 90-minute staff meeting held Friday morning, officials decided asking applicants to provide their passwords to sites such as Facebook or MySpace "exceeded that which is acceptable to our community," according to Kukulski.
Kukulski also apologized for the negative impact the issue has generated from news organizations and blogs around the world. He added that the information was never required at the time of application. "This was a question that was asked after you were conditionally offered the job." He said the City also is suspending the practice of viewing any password protected information.
The city said although it would no longer require usernames and passwords the city would still continue to use the internet to check on applicant's integrity.
This story made me think of this song:
Police - Every Breath You Take What song are you hearing as you read about Bozeman?
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