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97 Minn. L. Rev. 306 (2012-2013)
It Can Do More than Protect Your Credit Score: Regulating Social Media Pre-Employment Screening with the Fair Credit Reporting Act

handle is hein.journals/mnlr97 and id is 316 raw text is: Note It Can Do More Than Protect Your Credit Score: Regulating Social Media Pre-Employment Screening with the Fair Credit Reporting Act Nathan J. Ebnet* Landing that great new job just got a little bit harder. In addition to written applications, lengthy interviews, and com- prehensive criminal and credit checks, a growing number of employers are factoring job candidates' social media profiles in- to their hiring decisions.' Even in 2006, roughly thirty-five per- cent of employers eliminated job candidates based on infor- mation discovered online.2 And although it should come as no surprise that more obscene social media content, such as sex- ually explicit photos or racist remarks, could damage an indi- vidual's job prospects, so too could a long-forgotten blog post or a heated political discussion with a friend.' After all, only a few clicks separate a staggering amount of personal data- conveniently preserved online-from a curious employer.4 Despite the increasing popularity of social media pre- employment screening, whether or not such a practice is legal * J.D. Candidate 2013, University of Minnesota Law School; B.A. 2009, Gustavus Adolphus College. The author would like to give special thanks to Professor Stephen Befort for his invaluable assistance throughout the writing process. Many thanks also to the hardworking editors and staff members of the Minnesota Law Review. Above all, the author expresses gratitude to his family and friends. Copyright © 2012 by Nathan J. Ebnet. 1. See Jennifer Preston, Social Media History Becomes a New Job Hur- dle, N.Y. TIMES, July 21, 2011, at B1. 2. NBC Nightly News: Profile: College Students Using New Web Site Could Have Their Personal Information Read by Prospective Employers (NBC television broadcast May 13, 2006) (transcript available at 2006 WLNR 8296767). 3. See Ian Byrnside, Note, Six Clicks of Separation: The Legal Ramifica- tions of Employers Using Social Networking Sites to Research Applicants, 10 VAND. J. ENT. & TECH. L. 445, 446 (2008) (contrasting information regarding a user's favorite band or movie to posts that feature a person's sexual escapades and substance abuse). 4. See id. at 455-56. 306

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