@ Fae: You have friends?? Amazing !!

For everyone: it wouldn't matter if someone never used the internet. Unfortunately, they still will have a presence. I have one very good friend who shows up in searches because of participation in mundane, legal things like amateur sports. There are also the photos on the employer's Facebook page (the page is used to generate business and list promotions). Anonymity/ privacy is virtually impossible. All any of us can do is be prudent in what is displayed. It is reasonable for an employer to cast a disapproving view on posted pics of an inebriated weekend party (why advertise that you went swimming in the fountain wearing a penguin suit?). But if you sent a pic of your cousin in this scenario to your brother via the private message function, why is it the employer's business?

Back in the early '80s, I walked away from a job with the local police department because of the requisite 250 question polygraph. I told the interviewer that it was too invasive for a job that paid just above minimum wage. She said she understood and that the only people who ever accepted the position were ones wanting a career in the department and willing to do anything to get a foot in the door. Filling the position took them a long time.

Please forgive the typos - I was being interrupted to retch at the whole topic. It literally made me sick :(

I have mine page locked down so tight that most everything is only visible to me. But it still allows me to contact and be contacted by those on my friends list. That is sufficient.

@ Fae: Please tell us where you where it would be an immediate disqualification, so we don't even think about applying there. Even friends and family of mine who possess government clearance at the top levels still have lives! I am a retiree from a telecommunications behemoth that lived with the day to day necessity of proprietary information that affected public safety and security. While internet usage on the job was verboten, one's personal time off premise was quite another. Your reply is beyond ridiculous! It might be quite frank, but it seemed to imply a certain pleasure in your screening process. It is rather appalling.

Now if you can just spell the author's name correctly :)

Sounds tasty!

It does seem like it should be called the Elvis Roll :)

This has been going on here in the U.S. for years in the telecom industry.