35. Privacy and Publicity
"Our work to improve privacy continues today."
Mark Zuckerberg
CEO, Facebook
i. Privacy: Keep Your Life Private
- NL 1: Email at Work – Avoid These “Dozen Digital Disasters”
- NL 2: Why Sending Your Resume To a “Headhunter” Can Cost You Dearly
- QA 1: “What can I tell prospective employers about my secret government work?”
- QA 2: Can I report something to HR and ask them to keep it confidential?
- QA 3: “How do I explain job loss after a personal tragedy made me lose focus?”
- QA 4: “I’m interviewing for a new job, and I’m three months pregnant. Do I have any obligation to tell my interviewers?”
- QA 5: “When interviewing for a new job, if I am asked about my pending lawsuit against my former employer, what do I say?”
ii. Privacy: Stop Employers Prying into Your Life
- QA 1: “Can a prospective employer ask if I smoke, or if I have a mortgage?”
- QA 2: “Can an employer insist that an employee’s Facebook page name an employer-representative as a “friend” so it can be closely monitored?”
- QA 3: “What happens if a prospective employer I’m interviewing with contacts my present employer? Should I let them?”
- QA 4: “Are prospective employers limited in what they can ask a former employer about you, and is the former employer limited in what it can say?”
- QA 5: “Can my employer contact another company to find out if I have interviewed with them?”
iii. Privacy: Make Employers Keep Your Secrets
- QA 1: “Can an employer insist that an employee’s Facebook page name an employer-representative as a “friend” so it can be closely monitored?”
- QA 2: “Can employers require medical information from job applicants?”
- QA 3: “Can I trust Human Resources to keep things confidential?”
- QA 4: “I’m retiring; can I ask my boss to keep that confidential?”
- QA 5: “If an agency introduces me to an employer, can I take a different job directly with the employer?”
- QA 6: “Is it an invasion of privacy if incidents involving employees are reported company-wide, including employees’ names?”
- QA 7: “What can an ex-employer say about an ex-employee?”
- QA 8: “I took a FMLA leave of absence, and my boss told people of my medical problem. What should I do?”
- QA 9: Can a future employer find out I was placed on a Performance Improvement Plan (called a “PIP”)?
- QA 10: “Can my former employer claim to be the author of a magazine article I wrote as part my duties?”
- QA 11: “How can I stop my resume from being used for unauthorized purposes?”
iv. Publicity: Control Your Name, Voice, Picture, etc.
“If you live your life the right way,
your later years will not be a winter,
but rather a harvest.”