Although American University students who attended the job fair last week may dislike the idea of potential employers checking their Facebook profiles for information on their background, there are currently no laws in place to prevent employers from doing so.
"There is nothing I can identify that says [employers] can't do it," said Tena Friery, research director for the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a San Diego-based consumer advocacy organization. "There is not a privacy law that covers every situation."
The best thing for students to do is to be aware that employers could be looking at their profile and release their personal information with discretion, Friery said.
American University students only recently were made aware of the fact that some employers were taking information about them off of the Facebook, The Eagle previously reported. Many are still not aware of the fact.
"I was not aware that the Facebook could be used as a source for background checks," said Erin Kelley, a junior in the School of International Service. "I'm not currently a [Facebook] member, but had considered joining. Now that I know information on the Web site isn't necessarily kept private, I certainly won't be signing up."
According to the Web site of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act sets national standards for employment screening. However, Facebook does not fall under the Act because it only applies to background checks performed by a third-party company known as a consumer reporting agency, said Friery.
"[Facebook] is a Web site. I think the purpose of it is not to sell reports or prepare reports," Friery said. "It doesn't seem to me to fit the definition of a consumer report."
When students sign up for a Facebook profile, they must agree to a privacy policy which warns that the personal information put on the site is available to third parties. According to the privacy policy, Facebook shares information with third parties "only in limited circumstances" when they believe it is "reasonably necessary," required by law or permitted by the student. The policy also says that Facebook occasionally provides "demonstration accounts" to non-users, which could mean a potential employer would have access to a student's Facebook information without being a member of the site.
The likelihood of an employer having access to a student's profile is "very low," said Facebook spokesperson Chris Hughes in an e-mail.
"Several factors would have to line up to make it possible. First, the employer would have to be a graduate of the particular school that the interviewee is attending. Second, that particular school would be able to distribute .edu e-mail addresses to its alumni," Hughes said. "Finally, the individual undergrad would have had to configure her privacy settings to specifically make her profile available to alumni."
There are also ways students can protect the information they post on Facebook from the eyes of potential employers.
"If students don't want a potential alumnus looking at their profiles, they can just change their privacy settings so that they are not available to alumni," said Hughes.
Despite these precautions, some students are still wary that the information on the Web site could be viewed by prospective employers. Also, some of the information that appears on their profile is not voluntarily given.
For instance, members of Facebook are allowed to write message on the walls of student profiles, as well as post photos of fellow students and friends.
"I would be somewhat concerned if employers were looking at [my profile] because it has pictures on it, and comments on my wall that are completely related to my social life," said Greg Higgins, a junior in the School of Public Affairs. "[These comments] are not related to my professional life, and I'm not sure that every employer would make that sort of distinction"
