Job seekers warned about providing sensitive information

[The Straight Story]

SACRAMENTO, CA - Job seekers are told to be wary of what information they give on applications. Employment experts say some companies ask for information that "walks the line" when it comes to privacy and age discrimination.

"This is a whole new wrinkle," said Kathy Masera, president of the California Job Journal. "When you end up having to fill out information that can be used against you, you open the door to fall victim to age discrimination. An even bigger issue, to me, is that they're asking for Social Security numbers."

Some of the nation's largest employers ask applicants to apply online and give potentially sensitive information.

Home Depot's site requires a job seeker to sign up for an account before browsing for jobs. The site asks the user to submit hie or her Social Security number to create an account.


http://www.news10.net/news/story.aspx?storyid=126102&catid=2

[Journeyman]

1. Why ask anyone's age, when a simple internet search will return it?. . .

White Pages.com, People Finder, 123 People -- any number of sites will return age, residential history, relatives and house mates, all for no money down.

Dig a little deeper and you can freely find peoples' political affiliations, education, and associations, all for free. Pay a few bucks and you've got their credit history. Pay a little more and you've got their criminal record.

"Be wary what you give." Useless advice when your info is already spread everywhere, free for the asking, with little to no options for the average person to delete or revise it.

[Recursion]

2. I've learned to be a real asshole about anybody asking for my SSN

Identity theft does that to you. But basically, most uses of SSNs in private businesses are inappropriate if not downright illegal.