What’s your response if I ask for your Facebook password so I can log in as you and just poke around, see what’s up? Probably something like, “Get out of my face, you crazy person.” But apparently, some potential employers are actually asking for those private details with job applicants. The nerve!

The Associated Press (via Chicago Tribune) says this is a more common thing than one might think, especially in the public sector, relaying the story of one such job applicant who had an interviewer sitting at the computer ask him for his username and password. She wanted to log in as him and give his life a look-see. Nope! He withdrew his application.

“It’s akin to requiring someone’s house keys,” said Orin Kerr, a George Washington University law professor and former federal prosecutor who calls it “an egregious privacy violation.”

There’s now proposed legislation in Illinois and Maryland that would make it illegal for public agencies to ask for access to your social network accounts. But as of now, it’s not against the law to do so, it just makes for a super awkward moment when you have to decide whether or not you can afford to say no.

Some employers check out applicants’ Facebook profiles if they’re publically available, during the job screening process. If they’re private, companies are sometimes asking applicants to log in to a company computer during an interview or friend human resource managers.

And once they’re hired, employees are often asked to sign non-disparagement agreements, promising to never speak negatively about their company on any social network.

Who knew my “Likes” were such valuable information?

More job applicants asked for Facebook passwords [Chicago Tribune]

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