Right To Privacy In Social Media

In the United States, the right to privacy is understood by Americans as one of the fundamental rights of all people. In the age of satellite surveillance, video cameras, position tracking, communication monitoring, and electronic surveillance, whether an individual can truly experience privacy is questionable. Surveillance in public places such as stores, schools, and workplaces has become commonplace. Most employees have become accustomed to being monitored daily at the workplace. It is understood that anything they say or do is recorded and any inappropriate conduct could result in their termination for the job. However, in today’s more technologically advanced society, employers can now extend their monitoring of employees activates beyond

In David Pongee’s article Terms of Confusion, he discusses Facebook 's new terms and agreements which stated that users gave the company perpetual license "to use, copy, publish modify, edit, frame, translate, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works and distribute any user content they post." This is a common theme among various social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and several others. When an individual signs-up for an account on any social media platform, before they are able to have an account they must accept the terms and agreements of the website. Many people neglect to thoroughly read through the terms and agreements because typically these documents are several dozen pages (Pongee). Consequently, many users simply forfeit over their rights to their content without even realizing it. Along with posted content being the property of the social media website this also makes an individual’s post public record. Once a person presses the post button their information is out there forever. In the article "#Fired: The National Labor Relations Act and Employee Outbursts in the Age of Social Media by James he explains how even long after a post is deleted websites such as Facebook keep an archived record of deleted post. While many believe what they do and say on a social media site will not affect their chances at future employment the

According to Mathew Slaughter’s article The Barriers of Facebooks Terms of Service Agreement: Hardships Placed on Fiduciaries Access to Digital Assets today 85% of all United States adults use the Internet at least occasionally and 72% of those online adults use social networking sites, which is a dramatic increase from 2005 where only 8% used these sites. Consequently, employers have begun to use the information found on a social media website to obtain the information they do not otherwise get on a resume and in an interview. These web pages can give the employer and insight into the true nature of an applicant. Before social media employers only had calls from former employers as a reference for potential hires. Access to an applicant’s social media accounts allows for an employer to be informed of any potential red flags. People today live in a virtual online aquarium, and chances are good that one of the people watching them is probably their current or potential employer. According to the article Social Media a Big Part of the Hiring Process by UPI News Track, 52% of companies now check job applicants’ social media profiles before hiring them, this is up from 43% from just a year ago. Last year, the American Civil Liberties Union reported that at least one employer had demanded that job applicants disclose