Hot Topics: Facebook Says 'No' to Password Sharing

If you're job hunting, career experts recommend staying active on social networks so hiring companies can find out more about you. But how much is too much?

Following a number of incidents of would-be employers demanding Facebook passwords during the job interview process, the social network on Friday blasted the practice as violating its terms of service.

Such practices "undermine the privacy expectations and the security of both the user and the user's friends," says Facebook in a message posted today. Such requests also could expose employers to legal liabilities, the company says.

The warning follows news stories, including this Associated Press report, about prospective employers who required that job seekers share their passwords to Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites. In other situations, hiring managers have asked job applicants to connect with or "friend" them to look for inappropriate pictures, illegal behaviors or anything else that could damage the organization's reputation should the person be hired.

The practice is most prevalent in public agencies, including police departments and correctional facilities, according to an interview that the Marketplace radio show did with AP reporter Manuel Valdes.

Such practices are just another form of cyber bullying, insists Dan Finnigan, CEO at Jobvite, a company that makes software companies can use to share their job openings on social networks. The practices also allow companies to circumvent laws barring employers from directly asking job candidates about age, religion, marital status or citizenship. "Clearly, asking someone to access their private Facebook profile would provide answers to most if not all of these kinds of questions," Finnigan says.

Facebook users' reaction to the company's position was fast and overwhelmingly supportive. "Thanks for making this clear," one user writes in a comment on the Facebook statement. "If I am ever asked for login info by an employer, I will most certainly be letting them know about this!"

What do SecondAct readers think about this topic? Please share your comments below.

In other news:

What's Driving Midlife Entrepreneurship: Are more midlife and older Americans starting businesses out of necessity, boredom or because it's fun? When Wall Street Journal blogger Emily Maltby asked experts and readers to weigh in on the question this week, their answers were all over the map. Dane Stangler, director of research at the Kauffman Foundation, which researches entrepreneurship, tells Maltby the bad economy is a big factor. People who lost jobs and couldn't get re-hired anywhere had no choice but to work for themselves. Others turn hobbies into businesses, or work to stay active or because they'd be bored on the golf course, Stangler says. One woman commenting on the post says she became self-employed 11 years ago after being fired, but couldn't have worked for herself earlier because she needed the financial stability. Another commenter says that after boomers spent most of their careers in jobs to provide for their families, they're ready for work that fulfills their passions.

The New Girls' Club: In an evolving workplace order, women are taking over as primary breadwinners in many households, according to Rich Mom, Poor Dad, a new book by Washington Post staffer Liza Mundy. Nearly 40 percent of U.S. working wives now out-earn their husbands, and they'll soon make up a majority. Women also hold most managerial and professional jobs and earn the most college degrees, and long-term economic trends favor fields that women dominate, Mundy writes. In her review of the book, NPR social issues correspondent Jennifer Ludden says, "It turns out that in my lifetime, women will be the second sex no more."

Microsoft Co-Founder Supports Brain Research: Billionaire Paul Allen recently donated $300 million to a foundation he started to map and observe the human brain, according to Forbes.com. His contributions now total $500 million. Allen, part owner of the Seattle Seahawks and Portland Trailblazers, started the Allen Institute for Brain Science, in part, to help find a cure for Alzheimer's disease since his mother's diagnosis, Allen tells Forbes.com. "Our dream is to one day uncover the essence of what makes us human -- to explore and understand how the brain makes us remember, forget, interact with each other and become the people we are," he says.

Mad Men Returns. When last we left the hit AMC series, Don Draper had surprised everyone -- including himself -- by proposing to his secretary; Peggy Olson had just won an account that could keep Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce afloat; Joan had a big secret; and Betty was having doubts about her post-Don life. After a 17-month wait brought on by a contract dispute between the network and series creator Matthew Weiner, the Emmy-winning show set in a 1960s Madison Avenue ad agency is back with a two-hour season premier Sunday at 9 p.m. AMC is capitalizing on the moment, offering a catch-up video, tips for hosting a Mad Men watch party, and an updated online tool for turning your Twitter avatar into a character from the show. San Francisco Chronicle TV critic David Weigand writes in this preview that the first episode is "a stunner" and says the season "may wind up being the show's best so far."

Last Word: "Baby boomers continue to redefine our culture, because there are just so many of us, we're used to being the center of attention....it's pretty clear that in just about every cultural respect, 50-year-olds are living, acting and looking more like 30-year-olds every day." -- internet marketing guru, author and digital-age business pundit Seth Godin, writing on Seth's Blog