Employers searching Facebook case heading to court

A Maryland court is going to be reviewing a hiring policy regarding the requirement that job applicants give over social networking passwords and watch as potential employers dig through your private messages.

While the policy is legal from the perspective that employers are asking you for your password and you are consenting to it, the court is reviewing the legality that employers look at this information in the first place.  It is more than likely that applications that do not consent to this type of check will not be hired.

Even if applicants are hired the second aspect is that employees are being fired for making critical comments about their jobs, the products their employer makes and other commentary on social networking sites.

Story at Cnet.