Jeremy Wickins

Sheffield

Researcher, Biometrics and Social Exclusion

This needs serious consideration, as there is a possibility that the employers doing this are acting illegally. Depending on when these data are accessed, there may be breaches of sex, race, and age discrimination legislation. This is aside from the ethical issue - what a person does outside work, especially before they begin working for an employer, is none of the employer's business (literally and metaphorically), and morally any searches like this should not be conducted covertly, anyway.