[RickS]

Anecdotally, both as a hirer and hiree, I'd say the answer is no, it's not important. I can't think of a time a social profile has made or broken a hire on my end, and I've been hired despite having a locked IG, a mostly blank linkedin, no FB or snapchat, and a twitter that's mostly me griping unattractively.

Grain of salt, though, I'm in a field where a portfolio is required upfront, so that replaces a huge amount of signaling that might have to come from other places.

[sli]

It varies pretty wildly. A friend of my mother applied for a job doing clerical work at the city police station, and one of the conditions of hiring was surrendering her Facebook password. For some reason I'll never understand (she didn't need the job, just wanted something to do during the day), she took the job.

[J-dawg]

This is the worst kind of security requirement, in that it's not only a disgusting abuse of power, it would also be completely useless in stopping someone who really had something to hide.

Just like the recent reports of people being required to hand over their phone passcodes to US border control.

[watwut]

Having nothing useful to do whole day long term is highly unpleasant and I would argue even unhealthy. She probably needed a job, through not for money.

[salesguy222]

If true, which this probably is, this is absolutely pig disgusting.

Local police forces are literally legalized mafias, and they lack pretty much all preventive oversight.

Their thirst for tax money and control of the local populace is so evident that one need only google around for cases of murder, cover ups, militarization, steroids.... you name it, local police departments have controversy in spades.

That they are now requiring your password to a digitized and synced database of all your contacts, conversations, and photos..... it shows how thirsty they are for allegiance and control, not public safety.

[Razengan]

> one of the conditions of hiring was surrendering her Facebook password.

Is that even legal? How? Why?

[jachee]

Sharing the password to a Facebook account against their TOS anyway. https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms Section 4, bullet 8.

[type0]

Might be legal or illegal depending on where you are. But it's awful that it's even a thing. For example https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_8_of_the_European_Conv... says:

===========================================

    Article 8 – Right to respect for private and family life

    1. Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.

    2. There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.

=====================

So basically it's illegal until the authorities deem it to be legal.