Germany bans employers from Facebook

Germany is considering passing a law making it illegal for employers to stalk their employees on Facebook.

The New York Times has reported that a draft law is in parliament for discussion which would make it illegal for employers to research employees on sites specifically designed for social networking, such as Facebook.

“As part of the draft of a law governing workplace privacy, the German government on Wednesday proposed new restrictions on employers’ use of Facebook profiles when recruiting.”

“The proposed law would allow managers to search for publicly accessible information about prospective employees on the Web and to view their pages on job-networking sites, like LinkedIn or Xing, but would draw the line at purely social-networking sites like Facebook, said Philipp Spauschus, a spokesman for the Interior Minister, Thomas de Maizière.”

“Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet gave its backing to the proposed law Wednesday. The bill will now go to Parliament for discussion, and could be passed as early as this year, Mr. Spauschus said.”

The bill, if passed, could become law within the year.