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revelarts
06-27-2011, 08:33 AM
Anything you've EVER said on the net could be seen by employers Feds approve Corp that tells all.


http://blogs.forbes.com/kashmirhill/2011/06/15/start-up-that-monitors-employees-internet-and-social-media-footprints-gets-gov-approval/

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2008231/How-youve-EVER-said-internet-seen-employers-government-approves-Social-Intelligence-Corp.html#ixzz1QTxSugrj




...Feds Okay Start-up That Monitors Employees’ Internet and Social Media Footprints
Jun. 15 2011 - 3:34 pm

Ninja job applicant -- this photo of him with guns and a sword got flagged in a Social Intelligence background check

This week, the feds dropped their investigation of Social Intelligence Corporation, a year-old start-up that scours social media and Internet sites for dirt on employees and job applicants.

Writing about Social Intelligence after its launch, my colleague Nathan Vardi couldn’t decide whether the company was creepy or a sign of the times. The Federal Trade Commission’s decision to suspend its investigation of Social Intelligence [pdf] indicates that the government, at the very least, sees the start-up as the latter, as long as it complies with the Fair Credit Reporting Act to ensure that its clients let job applicants know when something that turned up in a background check had an adverse effect on their getting employed, or rather not getting employed.

The company modified its language in the background check permission form that job applicants must sign to make it clearer exactly what they would be subjected to during Social Intelligence’s review. They also added a few examples to the form of what might be included in a search. The company sent me some of those examples of what’s previously turned up in applicant background checks: a job seeker who had an Internet photo featuring him holding multiple guns and a sword, another who was a member of a “racist” Facebook group (“I shouldn’t have to press 1 for English! Learn the language”), and a third whose Internet footprint indicated drug use, including membership in a pro-Cannabis 2012 campaign and Craigslist ads seeking OxyContin....

This begs the Question, is all of the the internet a public or private place?
Or is it more like Mail? Is it somewhere inbetween? is it both? Is it something else?
I've assumed it's more of a public place and have been fairly careful.
BUT what you say in a Bar, Church, the supermarket, the foreign Legion, or on the street usually doesn't come back to bite you? No, it's lost in the ether of peoples memories.

Part of me wants to rage against this. Another part says you new this already.

Another says, this is a weird, 100 years ago people wrote letters now people read those letters and get a glimpse of the lives and thoughts of a previous generation. Many are beautifully composed and thoughtful.
100 years from now what will people think of most writing they find saved in old web severs?

jimnyc
06-27-2011, 04:25 PM
I have no problem with this. I have always seen the internet as a public domain. If you use a social site, and don't want anything "bad" seen - either use appropriate privacy or don't do anything bad on there.

And the guy who wrote this software will probably be a billionaire. Besides, employees already use resources to search this stuff on potential employees. It only makes sense to reduce the manpower being used to investigate people you will hire/pay.

fj1200
06-27-2011, 06:49 PM
I think e-mail should have similar restrictions like snail mail but I'm with Jim, the internet is public domain and you should have no expectation of privacy. Maybe a better question is you have any expectation of anonymity.

gabosaurus
06-27-2011, 09:02 PM
One of the first things I was taught about the internet is to never say or do anything online that you wouldn't do in person.
We had one of our students lose a college scholarship because she was in several facebook pictures where she was drinking and acting inappropriately. Everything posted online is public. You have no protection and no excuses.

darin
06-28-2011, 08:41 AM
saw this on Fox yesterday - there was also a guy (in addition to the Social Intelligence guy) saying how to download something (freeware) that protects from these types of things. I forgot the site/software he mentioned - Any ideas?

gabosaurus
06-28-2011, 12:09 PM
saw this on Fox yesterday - there was also a guy (in addition to the Social Intelligence guy) saying how to download something (freeware) that protects from these types of things. I forgot the site/software he mentioned - Any ideas?

If it is freeware, it is likely available from www.download.com