By Jamie Neben

The city of Bozeman, Montana is asking applicants to supply their user names AND passwords for web groups and social networking sites.  According to the city, nobody will be scored negatively if the information is not provided.  We know already that many employers search the internet, kind of like an additional background check, before making hiring decisions.  First of all, how much should our “off the clock” behavior be taken into consideration when it comes to our jobs?  And is there anything right about providing personal data to that extent?  If so, would it also be ok to hand over the keys to our houses so that our new boss can take a look around and decide if it’s clean enough, stylish enough, etc…? 

Can anybody make an argument as to why this is acceptable?