By Jeffrey Kosseff, The Oregonian, Portland, Ore. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Nov. 12--Job seekers forgo privacy protections when they apply for work via computer, a report released Tuesday contends.
The World Privacy Forum's report questioned privacy safeguards on job Web sites such as Monster.com and in-store job-application kiosks, mainly those provided by Beaverton-based Unicru.
Some application processors contain so few protections that they risk revealing medical or financial information, the group's report said. Some collect Social Security numbers for background checks even before a potential employee finishes an application, the report said. Others do not prominently post policies describing how they will use applicant information.
Pam Dixon, head of the World Privacy Forum, wants the Federal Trade Commission and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to look more closely at how job sites and recruitment services handle information. Her California-based nonprofit, founded this year, researches privacy issues.
Responding to the charges, application companies such as Unicru say they closely guard applicant information.
Privacy experts said although electronic and paper job applications should be held to the same legal standards, employers must recognize the additional responsibility of protecting information transmitted online.
'As with any other situation where you're providing electronic information, the big difference is it's so much easier to duplicate and transmit electronic information than . . . paper information,' said Anne Glazer, a Portland attorney who handles privacy issues at Lane Powell Spears Lubersky. 'The law and best practices shouldn't be different.'
The privacy group devoted more than seven of its report's 81 pages to research on Unicru. The Beaverton company provides in-store job-screening terminals, and it has processed nearly 20 million applications for employers such as the Sports Authority, Target and Kroger, parent of Fred Meyer.
'With the number of kiosks growing rapidly, this is an area that needs to be examined before negative consumer privacy practices become ingrained,' the report said.
Employers install Unicru's computer terminals in their stores or offices.
Applicants fill out an online survey. The software rates applicants for the employers.
The World Privacy Forum's researchers examined four Unicru kiosks at the Sports Authority. They noted that none contained privacy policies -- written statements on how the employer might use applicant information and who will see it.
Unicru said its client employers decide whether to post privacy policies.
'As to the privacy policies, there's actually currently no federal requirements,' said Kim Beasley, Unicru's public relations manager.
Beasley challenged the report's contention that electronic job application systems bear fewer privacy protections than hard copy versions. Unlike paper applications, which can sit unsecured in drawers for weeks, Beasley said, privately held Unicru specifies who has electronic access to applicant information.
'I actually think there's more protection,' she said. 'We go to great lengths to protect data.'
In addition to challenging Unicru's practices, the researchers said many job Web sites let too much information from resumes posted online get into the hands of third parties with help from online 'cookies,' or programs that monitor Web surfing.
The report also questions the policies of FastWeb.com, a popular scholarship search service owned by Monster.com, a leading job site. To help hone their searches, FastWeb asks users optional personal questions such as their race and sexual orientation and whether they have HIV.
FastWeb can give employers and recruiters its users' personal information only if they proactively 'opt in' to its privacy policy.
But Dixon, formerly of the University of Denver's Privacy Foundation, said FastWeb should do more to make certain that employers cannot see anyone's religious or medical information.
Steve Pogorzelski, president of Monster North America, said employers aren't interested in that kind of information. He called Dixon's allegations overblown.
'Our businesses depend on the trust of consumers, and we're not going to do anything to violate that,' he said.
Other contributors to World Privacy Forum's report included the Electronic Privacy Information Center and Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
To see more of The Oregonian, or to subscribe the newspaper, go to http://www.oregonian.com
(c) 2003, The Oregonian, Portland, Ore. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
TMPW,
