Your Facebook writings could come back to haunt you. Social Intelligence Corp monitors a variety of online destinations for employers.
While seven year’s worth of information will be archived, employers won’t be able to access archived information. The company explained why: “Data is archived purely for compliance reasons and not used for any other purposes. This is to provide a verifiable chain-of-custody in case the information is ever needed for legal reasons. Archived data is never used for new screens. As per our policies and obligations under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the only information we collect on job applicants is employer defined criteria that is legally allowable in the hiring process. Examples of this include racist remarks, sexually explicit photos or videos, or illegal activity such as drug use.”
What do you think–how many different kinds of online writing should prospective employers be able to read? This is a good time to check out the Facebook Privacy Guide.
UPDATE: Forbes has corrected their original story about Social Intelligence. Here is an important clarification about the process: “Social Intelligence had sent me some of the reports they’ve provided to employers so far, including a job applicant who had a photo on a social networking site that featured multiple guns and a sword, and another who was designated racist for joining the Facebook group, ‘I shouldn’t have to press 1 for English. We are in the United States. Learn the language.’ … Social Intelligence’s ‘negative’ findings will stay in the files of Workplace-Shooting-Waiting-To-Happen and No-Hablo-Espanol for seven years per the requirements of FCRA, though new employers who run searches through Social Intelligence won’t have access to the materials if they are completely removed from the Internet.”
Editor’s Note: This post has been corrected to add clarification from the company.