Bozeman rescinds password requirement for job applicants

Further to my previous posting, City in Montana requires job applicants to hand over all social network logins and passwords, the City of Bozeman has faced a huge backlash over its incredibly intrusive policy of requiring job applicants to hand over social networking login information. As a result, it has apparently rescinded the policy. See: Bozeman drops password requirement - Montana's News Station.

Managing privacy in employee relations

I was invited to co-chair and present at the Canadian Institute's "Meeting Your Privacy Obligations" conference in Toronto. My presentation was specifically about managing privacy in the workplace, which is below if you're interested.

Here's a link if Google Docs aren't giving you due respect: Managing Privacy in Employee Relations

I have to say it was one of the best conferences of its kind that I've been to recently. The stellar speakers included Federal Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart, Alberta Information and Privacy Commissioner Frank Work and fellow bloggers Brian Bowman and Dan Michaluk. (Note: If you're reading my blog, you'll find theirs to be equally interesting and useful. So after you've read all my postings, head over there ...)

Pre-employment polygraph screening

While my blog was down, I wrote on slaw.ca about an interesting story from Nova Scotia that made national news. For those who missed it on slaw, here it is:

Slaw: Pre-employment screening

A recent story from Nova Scotia has focused a lot of attention on pre-employment screening and the use of polygraphs. Hopefully, it will encourage a larger discussion on both sides of the issue.

According to media reports, anybody applying for a job that falls within the purview of the Halifax Police Service and Fire Service is required to pay for a polygraph examination that includes a range of questions, some of which have been considered to be objectionable. (See the full questionnaire here (pdf).)

Others have objected to the use of a polygraph, as many assert it is not a reliable indicator of truthiness truthfulness. (If you want a refresher on how Canadian courts are to treat polygraphs, check out R. v. Béland, 1987 CanLII 27 (S.C.C.)).

The media coverage has been plentiful, from the local papers to CBC's The National (Quicktime).
The former FOIPOP Review Officer has made his thoughts known (Ex-watchdog: Ditch polygraphs) as has his successor Dulcie McCallum (Nova Scotians deserve same privacy protection as others).

Any debate and discussion is a good thing. It should, hopefully, focus the mind on one of the principes of privacy best practices that appears in almost every public and private sector privacy law: only collect information that's reasonably necessary for the (reasonable) purposes. If it's not necessary or not reasonable, don't collect it. Other important principles to consider: who has access to the information, how is it used and how long is it kept around?

And now for something completely different somewhat relevant, yet inadmissible:

Here's CBC The National's report: