As a foreigner, when I read this, I think "so why are you surprised?"
Nationalism really irks me.
What's wrong with nationalism exactly? Since, like most things, there are various degrees of nationalism do you dislike every example of it? If I like the country I live in but disagree with some of its policies, am I still an irksome person in your eyes?
My definition of nationalism is "excessive patriotism", or maybe "exceptionalism". It generally irks me when I hear americans say "this is America", because nobody I know says "this is Greece" or "this is England" as if they're the only free (to whatever degree) countries.
In other words, Nationalism is a big myth. There are no common characteristics (or then, VERY few) that everyone shares in one country, let alone in a single village. This is an idea created by politicians to turn one country's people against others. Liking the country you live in does not equal to nationalism, God forbid.
Asking for access to a prospective employee's Facebook seems like asking for access to their car trunk or their home bathroom. Why don't companies try this?
Is your Facebook account your personal property? What about your information after you've placed it on Facebook?
Asking for access to a prospective employee's Facebook seems
like asking for access to their car trunk or their home bathroom*
A Facebook login is NOT a positive/negative test - it's more of a "does this person behave well in general" which is a highly subjective measure. What's worse, it's conflating the private and work spheres and letting the employer pass judgement on X's personal life, regardless of how well X can compartmentalize.
The key difference is that drug users usually can't compartmentalize their addiction. Most people can usually compartmentalize their social behaviour. "Usually" is the key word here - there are always extreme counter-examples.
Depends. In the European Union, with data protection law, stuff you put on facebook would almost certainly be 'personal information' which cannot be used willy-nilly.
('information' is not usually viewed as 'personal property' in law)
I might be mistaken - but doesn't this break the United Nations Agreements on Human Rights?
Otherwise I wonder if in the future it will be one more thing to watch out for in contracts.
Another aspect: if an employer would be willing to fire you over such a thing, your profession is probably not in very high demand and you should consider switching.
Just because something needs to be done does not mean that we need to have the government do it.
...
"The LAST time I checked, this was still America. The last time I checked, I was afforded the right to speak my mind (First Amendment). The last time I checked, I was protected from unlawful search and seizure or demands on my privacy (Fourth Amendment)."
Umm...