Privacy watchdogs in more provinces are moving in to ramp up limits and warnings about using social media networks in the context of reference and background checks. It has become more common recently for companies to use social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to research job applicants — and perhaps other new business relationships.
But a series of recent moves by regulators, in the United States as well as Canada, are making it clear that companies who conduct searches on social media and other sites such as Google, could run afoul of privacy legislation. British Columbia and Alberta were first out of the gate in Canada, releasing guidelines late last year that are aimed at helping businesses (including financial advisors and their firms) avoid breaching privacy legislation when they do background checks.
Now the Ontario Information & Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) has released a detailed booklet which offers cautions and advice for those who post information on social media that might affect their ability to land a job: “Reference Check: Is Your Boss Watching? The New World of Social Media: Privacy and Your Facebook Profile.”
The new booklet is aimed at individual posters. However, it can also be used by others, such as those who work in human resources and compliance departments — and the staff they are responsible for — to review the types of searches and information gathering that OIPC may find intrusive.
And in late April, a Liberal MLA in Nova Scotia introduced a bill that would amend the province’s labour standards legislation to prevent employers from asking current employees and job candidates for access to their social media accounts.
The issue has come to the fore recently in the U.S., where some employers have begun asking for Facebook passwords as part of the vetting process for job candidates. Some states are now considering legislation that prohibits such practices.
In commentary on some of these developments, Timothy Banks, a lawyer at Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP, noted that employers or prospective employers who seek access to the social networking posts of job candidates should first seek legal advice: they may be breaching Canadian privacy obligations.