Is it acceptable for school admission office to ask for Facebook password ?

<p>I have heard from my teachers that actually is absolutely OK for universities and college to ask for your Facebook log in information. I guess they have the right to know who they are admitting into the school or if they should save that space for someone with a neat record. What do you thing? Would you be willing to give your information or would you think it twice ?</p>

<p>I think that there are still plenty of schools that don’t require giving up passwords and would look elsewhere. They may have the right ([Facebook</a> Passwords: Employers and Schools Demand Access; Facebook and Senators Respond - ABC News](<a href=“Demanding Facebook Passwords May Break Law, Say Senators - ABC News”>Demanding Facebook Passwords May Break Law, Say Senators - ABC News)) but it will just make people start paying attention to privacy controls and creating multiple accounts. To require it just as a general policy would just seem to cause more problems than it solves.</p>

<p>There was a lengthy discussion on employers doing this recently:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1306589-more-job-applicants-asked-facebook-passwords.html?highlight=facebook+password[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1306589-more-job-applicants-asked-facebook-passwords.html?highlight=facebook+password&lt;/a&gt; </p>

<p>I think it is completely unacceptable for college admissions offices as well. If nothing else, it can reveal racial/ethnic/religious information that you may not want to tell them.</p>

<p>I have not seen any threads out here of college admissions people asking for logong information, though. Although there is nothing stopping them from searching for you on the Internet, and if your privacy settings aren’t tight enough, they will be able to see some or all of your information.</p>

<p>There are 2 kinds of colleges in the world:
1- those that ask you for your personal passwords
2- those that don’t</p>

<p>Don’t go to the first kind.</p>

<p>In a First Amendment sense, I guess they can ask. </p>

<p>But it’s an outrageously inappropriate request. I don’t know of colleges that actually do this, and I wouldn’t allow my kid to apply to one that did.</p>

<p>I am not aware of any schools the article could be referring to because I have not heard of any colleges ever asking for Facebook log in information. I assume one could “ask” all it wants but you are not required to give it and you might want to remind such a questioner that there is nothing in the college’s admissions materials that states you would be required to provide such information. I would then send a letter to someone in the college who is higher than the person asking, such as the Dean of the college or president of the university and specifically ask such person to confirm or deny whether the college has a policy of asking for such information and if so why it is not so stated in their admission requirements, and also identify the person who asked for it (it is highly likely the college has no such policy).</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>I would address that to the Dean of Admissions. </p>

<p>If I were going to do that, I mean. I doubt I ever would do it, because I believe that requests from colleges for Facebook passwords are kind of like alligators in the sewers and spider eggs in bubble gum–urban legends. I see headlines to that effect when I Google, but I never find examples of colleges that actually do that when I read the articles. I do find that some colleges require athletes to be friends with a coach or AD on Facebook. I think that crosses a line, too, but not nearly as far as requiring a password from applicants does. Heck, Facebook’s terms of service actually say that users are not supposed to give their login information to other parties!</p>

<p>“I have heard from my teachers that actually is absolutely OK for universities and college to ask for your Facebook log in information.”</p>

<p>I think this is just a scare tactic from a teacher or two who want to remind their students that if a student puts a lot of personal information out there it can come back to bite them in unexpected ways. It may be against a university or college’s admissions office policy for adcoms to look at a students’ facebook account, but what’s to stop anyone else in your future school from looking you up and making judgements based on what they see there? As always, it pays to be careful.</p>

<p>Honestly, I’ve never heard of anyone (schools or jobs) asking for Facebook passwords. When did they start doing this? If it came down to something like that to be admitted to a college I’d reconsider going there if I were you. I think asking for a social networking password is invading privacy. If a college asked me for my Facebook password I’d delete my Facebook temporarily because I would feel like it’s not their business to know what I put on my Facebook and they don’t need to know that I have a Facebook page anyway.</p>

<p>There were news reports last year about a couple of companies doing it. But I have heard no actual reports of colleges (and I bet we would hear about it out here :slight_smile: ). If you read the OP’s post, it is purely speculation that a college MIGHT ask for it. So let’s not whip up too much froth over this, as it does not seem to have actually happened.</p>

<p>No, it is not acceptable.
But don’t have a facebook page if you don’t want the world to gain access.</p>

<p>My son told me that the one time he was asked for his Facebook password by a potential employer, he simply told them that his extended family used Facebook as a way to converse, and, that as there was a lot of private and/or personal information involved, that it was family policy not to share access.</p>

<p>Employer had no problem with his response.</p>

<p>They can ask, and boysx3’s so gave the best answer. They can ask, but you can refuse. If they press, simply tell them that facebook asks its users to guard their passwords and not to share them. To do so would be a violation of their terms of membership. Section 4.8:

</p>

<p>If they have a Facebook account of their own, if they access yours, they are in violation of section 3.5:

and if they ask, they are in violation of 3.12:

</p>

<p>thanks everyone for sharing your opinion. I didn’t say this at the beginning but i was told from very good sources that some universities would pay other people such as computer techs or admissions staff member to look through the applicants Facebook page before accepting them. this is as for the state of New Jersey i don’t know about other states</p>

<p>There isn’t an official law that has been proofed that prevents colleges or universities from asking you facebook log in info. Some universities or job companies will be willing to ask for such a personal information</p>

<p>I really can’t imagine a college having an actual policy of paying people to hack kids facebook accts. If they did that, and you did not get in? I’d say you dodged a bullet. Who needs that? I mean, I suppose they miight ask, but I’ve never heard of it.</p>

<p>"I didn’t say this at the beginning but i was told from very good sources that some universities would pay other people such as computer techs or admissions staff member to look through the applicants Facebook page before accepting them. "</p>

<p>I think this also should stew in the same B.S. pot as your “colleges require FB passwors” rumor… There are frankly too many applicants. The schools that care enough about carefully crafting their incoming classes have been doing so for decades before FB/Myspace, etc. Employers, who are looking to fill a few slots, can do this with the final candidates. Rutgers can’t or won’t invest time/money into doing this for 5000 finalists. </p>

<p>And it’s not as if colleges haven’t been admitting kids w/poor behavior before. What’s new about that? Think about it.</p>

<p>paranoia!</p>