In their efforts to vet job applicants, some companies and U.S. government agencies are going beyond merely glancing at a person's social networking profiles and instead are asking to log in as the user to have a look around.

"It's akin to requiring someone's house keys," said Orin Kerr, a George Washington University law professor and former federal prosecutor who calls it "an egregious privacy violation."

Lori Andrews, law professor at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law specializing in Internet privacy, is concerned about the pressure placed on applicants, even if they voluntarily provide access to social sites.

"Volunteering is coercion if you need a job," Andrews said.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/03/20/facebook-password-req...