Should an employer ever ask for a Facebook password?

Many say Maryland’s Division of Correction should not have asked for job applicant’s Facebook password; some say the request could be warranted in certain instances.

If an employer asked you to cough up your Facebook password for the sake of security, would you do it?

For officer Robert Collins, a request for his Facebook password was so disquieting that the American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter on his behalf to the Maryland Division of Correction, the government agency that asked Collins for his login information. The division is part of the state’s Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.

The ACLU called the request a “frightening and illegal invasion of privacy,” and over the weekend, the Atlantic picked up on the dispute. In the following days, bloggers and commentators have debated whether the request for login information could be justified. Many say there’s no circumstance in which it could.

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