Germany Proposes Legislation to Ban Employers from Using Facebook Profiles While Recruiting

According to an article in yesterday's New York Times, German legislators drafted a new workplace privacy law. The proposed legislation will restrict an employer's use of Facebook to research a job applicant's background.

If the law is passed, managers could only use professional networking sites like LinkedIn, Xing and basic web profiles while researching potential employees. According to Phillip Spauschus, a spokesman for Interior Minister, Thomas Maizière, Facebook is a "purely social" website and the new law would make the site off limits to employers.

The bill is headed to Parliament where it has support of Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet. Spauschus said he believes the bill could be passed before the year is out.

Under the proposed bill, companies could not covertly videotape employees, but videotaping would be allowed in certain areas as long as employees are aware. In instances where a crime is believed to have been committed, employers would be allowed to hold secret investigations and still be in compliance with the new law.

As in the U.S., German users are unhappy with Facebook's new privacy settings which, when defaulted, reveal a fair amount of a user's personal information. It is believed that of Facebook's 500 million users, 10 million users are in Germany.

Germany has no current regulations to address a company's use of Facebook data, Spauschus said. "The proposal was drafted to create guidelines for the courts in handling cases that inevitably arise as social networking penetrates further into everyday life." Spauschus added that companies would benefit from the having a set of clear rules as well.

German authorities are also investigating Google because they believe Google collected "private" Internet data while conducting research for its Street maps service. German authorities have also asked Apple to explain its data collection policies for iPhone.

While the law may pass favorably in Germany, Facebook continues to be a source of contention between American employees who do not manage their privacy settings, and employers who get wind of a negative status or a risqué photo which subsequently leads to termination.