USA Today: Cops get screened for digital dirt

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Kevin Johnson writes in today's USA Today about how law enforcement agencies are digging deep into the social media accounts of applicants, requesting that candidates sign waivers allowing investigators access to their Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Twitter, and other personal electronic spaces. He continues to say that some agencies are demanding that candidates provide private passwords, internet psuedonyms, text messages and email logs as part of an expanding vetting process for public safety jobs.

(The rest of this post is my opinion.)

Many businesses are already 'tactfully' checking up on applicants and HR departments are trying to enforce rules of engagement on social media.

The important things to consider here are that organizations are using your social interaction history, your social influence, and even your pseudonyms to create a profile for individuals. This means that this information exists, and can be accessed. With a little effort businesses who sell to consumers should try to leverage this information as they try to create empathetic conversations with the consumers they serve.

As you collect consumer data, make sure that you secure it as it can also lead to other privacy concerns. Also, make sure that you have a privacy policy on your site to tell your consumers what information you are collecting, how you plan using the information, and how the consumer ought to contact you.