14 DAY TRIAL // Social networks are becoming an important source of information for employers about potential hires. But that may soon change as a new law in Germany would make it illegal to use social networking data in making a decision to hire someone. Googling the person will be allowed though.
A new law on data privacy for employees has been drafted by the German Interior Minister. The law is intended to limit the amount of data companies can gather about their employees, be it online or from other sources.
The interesting part is that personal social networks, like Facebook, are off limits for employers or even potential employers. Looking up a candidate on social networks will be explicitly prohibited.
However, employers will be allowed to look for info on purpose-built, professional social networks like LinkedIn or the local Xing. Other profiles that have been setup specifically for job-hunting, such as those on job listing sites, are also fair game.
Searching through regular websites is also allowed, but potential employers are to disregard any data that is too old or that has been posted by others without the candidate's approval.
The law makes sense in theory, people treat their Facebook profile as their personal space and post updates or photos that they wouldn't want their employers to know about.
It can be argued, though, that perhaps they shouldn't post these things publicly in the first place and that they should realize that they have little control over anything they make available online once it's published.
But even if the proposed law is passed, it will be very hard to enforce. It's probably close to impossible to prove that a potential employer did a Facebook search or not.
At the same time, perhaps better public education would be of more use, instructing people how to ensure their privacy even when posting something online.