Facebook is in the news again.  But this time it’s not what the social media giant is doing, but what Facebook users are being asked to do. 

Stories surfaced a few weeks ago about employers asking potential employees for their Facebook username and password. 

There is no question that savvy employers are using simple searches on the internet to find out what potential employees are up to.  But asking for their username and password crosses a boundary that most people are uncomfortable with, as well as bringing up questions about the legality of the practice. 

Given the still shaky job market, many people feel that they have no choice but to surrender this private information in order to get a job.

All of this lands us in the murky waters of internet regulation. 

Facebook released a statement warning employers against the practice of asking for Facebook passwords. Two U.S. senators are working to get this practice under control. 

Senators Chuck Schumer of New York and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut have asked Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate these claims under the argument that the practice violates the Stored Communications Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.  In addition, Senator Leland Yee of California plans to sponsor a bill that would stop employers from asking potential employees for their social network passwords.

I think it’s interesting that employers are prohibited by state and federal laws from asking about your race, religion, marital status, age, or sexual preference, yet these are all things that are available in your Facebook profile.  These laws have not yet caught up with social media. 

Catherine Crump, attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said, “I think it’s going to take some years for courts to decide whether Americans in the digital age have the same privacy rights.” 

I wonder if we’ll look back on this in five or ten years and think it was no big deal.  We are certainly in uncharted territory as far as social media and what may be considered crossing the line. 

What seems outrageous to adults now may seem like nothing to kids who have grown up with the technology that lets them share minute details of their lives.  When they enter the workforce, maybe it won’t be such a big issue for them. 

What do you think?

How many people reading this have already checked Facebook today? Its allure is strong. 

It’s a one-stop shop where one can reconnect with old friends, make new friends, play games, join like-minded groups, read the news…the list goes on and on.  Well, soon you will have the chance to own your very own piece of that addictive pie. 

Facebook filed its Initial Public Offering (IPO) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) earlier this month to become a publicly traded and owned entity. 

In a letter to potential shareholders CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, “We’re going public for our employees and our investors.  We made a commitment to them when we gave them equity that we’d work hard to make it worth a lot and make it liquid, and this IPO is fulfilling our commitment.  As we become a public company, we’re making a similar commitment to our new investors and we will work just as hard to fulfill it.” 

Facebook generated $3.7 billion in revenue in 2011, and could be valued between $75 and $100 billion when it goes public.

An article in The Economist titled Facebook: A fistful of dollars warns that Facebook faces a couple of issues that may give investors pause. 

One is how the company will continue to operate with the same level of urgency with employees who will suddenly become “paper millionaires” when the stock goes public. 

The second is an issue with a broader scope and the potential for regulatory backlash.

Facebook knows a lot about its users.  And it is constantly working on ways to find out more.  The idea being that the more it knows, the better it can cater to its users' specific wants and needs.  This is a nebulous area for many people. 

It’s also an area that is hard to regulate, which could cause problems for the company down the road.  The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has already sentenced Facebook to twenty years of twice-yearly privacy audits and has required that Facebook get consent from its users before sharing their information. 

This results from a two-year investigation into Facebook for “unfair and deceptive business practices,” including promising users that it would not share their personal information with advertisers (it did) and representing third-party apps as having access to only user information they needed to operate when the apps could actually access nearly all of the users’ personal data, even when they didn’t need it to operate the app.

Basically, Facebook’s greatest asset also has the potential to be its greatest downfall.

Facebook is free (Their slogan: “It’s free and always will be.”), so profits have always come from display ads—chosen based on a specific user’s information to be most of interest to them. 

If Facebook violates its users' trust, it risks losing access to their information as well as any potential buying power they may bring with them. I’m sure that many people and companies will watch with interest as this process proceeds.